


Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Trinity

by S3v3nW0nd3rs



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-30 10:56:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 90,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3934201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S3v3nW0nd3rs/pseuds/S3v3nW0nd3rs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Xander and Willow had one more friend? What if that friend had a secret? Trinity is a supernatural who'd rather stay off the slayer's radar. When Buffy finds out, what will she do? Rewrite of the series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to the Hellmouth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, just my OC(s).

_In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer._

 

At Sunnydale High School, A fist punches through a windowpane of a classroom and reaches in to undo the clasp. A boy and a girl, sneaking into the school.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" She asks.

The boy smiles. "It's a great idea, now come on." They crawl in and walk out of the classroom, continuing down the hallway.

"Do you go to school here?"

"I used to. On top of the gym it's so cool. You can see the whole town." He continues down the hall, but she stops him close to the intersection.

"I-I don't wanna go up there." She says.

He looks at her. "Aw, you can't wait, huh?"

"We're just gonna get in trouble."

"Yeah, you can count on it." He smirks before leaning in to kiss her but she draws a quick breath, startled and turns her head around to look down the hall.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"I heard a noise."

"It's nothing!"

She shakes her head. "Uh, uh, maybe it's something."

"Or maybe it's some _thing._ " He teases.

She looks at him. "That's not funny."

He looks down the other hall. "Hellooooo!" His voice echoes. He turns back to the girl. "There's nobody here."

"Are you sure?" She looks away.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay." She turns back to him, vamped out. She releases a growl before biting him. He grunts in pain as they sink to the floor.

 

Buffy tosses and turns in bed. She's having the nightmares, with visions of the Master's lair, the cemetery, the Master, of vampires and other demons, various events and artifacts. She wakes with a gasp.

"Buffy?" Joyce calls.

She sits up. "I'm up, Mom!" She yells.

"Don't wanna be late for your first day!"

Buffy sighs. "No." She mutters to herself. "Wouldn't want that."

 

Joyce pulls up to the school. "Okay!" She smiles. Buffy gets out. "Have a good time. I know you're gonna make friends right away, just think positive." She gives a thumbs up. Buffy looks through the open car door and gives her mother a quick nod. She turns to go and closes the door behind her. "And honey?" Buffy looks back at her. "Try not to get kicked out?"

"I promise."

"Okay." Joyce smiles.

Buffy faces the school and lets out a deep breath. Joyce drives off.

 

Xander bobs and weaves through the crowd on his skateboard. "'Scuse me, comin' through, pardon me, 'scuse me, whoa! 'Scuse me, not sure how to stop! Please move, whoa, 'scuse me..." He trails off as he sees Buffy. "Whoa." He breathes. He doesn't see the stair railing in front of him, too busy staring at the girl. He crashes into it and falls beneath it, grunting in pain. "God!" Willow and Trinity step over his legs. "I'm okay. I feel good." Willow looks down at him, smiling and pulling her hair behind her ear. Trinity rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Xander looks up and sees them. "Willow! You're so very much the person that I wanted to see!" He gets up.

"Hello to you too Xander." Trinity says. He smiles at her.

Willow smiles. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah." He says. "You know, I kinda had a problem with the math."

"Uh, which part?"

"The math." He puts his hands together. "Can you help me out tonight, pleeeease, be my study buddy?"

"Well, what's in it for me?"

"A shiny nickel!"

"Okay. Do you have 'Theories in Trig'? You should check it out."

"Check it out?" He asks.

"From the library? Where the books live." Trinity says.

"Right, I'm there!" He nods. "See, I wanna change."

"I believe you." She laughs.

They enter the school.

"Hey, hey!" A boy calls.

Xander smiles. "Hey, Jesse, what's what?"

"New Girl!"

Xander nods. "That's right, I saw her. Pretty much a hottie!"

"Is that right?" Trinity asks.

"I heard someone was transferring." Willow says.

"So tell!" Xander urges.

"Tell what?" Jesse asks.

"What's the sitch, what do ya know about her?"

Jesse shrugs. "New girl!"

"Well, you're certainly a font of nothing!"

Trinity lays a hand on his arm. "It's okay Jesse, I still love you."

He smiles and wraps an arm around her shoulder.

 

Buffy sits in Principal Flutie's office. He walks around his desk, looking at her school record. "Buffy Summers, sophomore, late of Hemery High in Los Angeles. Interesting record, quite a career..." He sits, takes the sheet he's reading and tears it into pieces. Buffy sends him a shocked look. "Welcome to Sunnydale! A clean slate, Buffy, that's what you get here. What's past is past. We're not interested in what it says on a piece of paper, even if it says..." He reads one of the pieces. "Whoa."

"Mr. Flutie-" She starts.

"All the kids here are free to call me Bob."

"Bob-"

"But they don't." He begins reassembling the torn sheet.

"I know my transcripts are a little...colorful."

"Heeey...we're not caring about that. Do you think, uh, 'colorful' is the word?" He taps the paper. "Not, uh, 'dismal'?"

"Wasn't _that_ bad!" She defends.

He looks at her. "You burned down the gym."

She sighs in exasperation. "I did, I really did, but...you're not seeing the big picture here, I mean, that gym was full of vampi-" She catches her mistake. "Asbestos."

"Buffy, don't worry. Any other school they might say 'watch your step', or 'we'll be watching you'...but, that's just not the way _here_. We want to service your needs, and help you to respect our needs. And if your needs and our needs don't mesh." He puts the poorly repaired sheet back into her file and slaps it shut. She gives him a thin, nervous smile.

 

Buffy comes out of Mr. Flutie's office. She opens her bag and rummages through it as she walks into the hall right in front of a girl and a boy. The girl bumps into her, making her lose her grip on the bag and spill its contents. "Oh! Sorry!"

"That's okay." The girl says.

Buffy looks down at the mess. "Oh..."

Xander hears the noise, looks back, quickly comes over and squats down next to her to help her gather her things. "Can I have you?" He asks. She gives him a confused look. "Uh..." He chuckles. "Can I help you?"

She smiles. "Thanks."

"I don't know you, do I?"

"I'm Buffy. I'm new."

"Xander. Is-is me. Hi." He smiles.

"Um, thanks." They finish gathering up everything.

"Well, uh, maybe I'll see you around...maybe at school...since we...both...go there."

"Great!" They stand up. "It was nice to meet you." She starts down the hall.

Xander frowns and mutters to himself. "We both go to school. Very suave. Very not pathetic." He notices a stake still on the floor. "Oh, hey!" He picks it up. "Hey, you forgot you..." He looks at the object. "Stake." He finishes, confused. Buffy doesn't hear him and continues down the hall. Xander holds on to the stake.

 

In a classroom, the teacher writes 'The Black Death' on the board and then turns to the class. "It's estimated that about twenty-five million people died in that one four-year span. But the fun part of the Black Plague is that it originated in Europe how?" She asks. Buffy is seated next to a brunette girl, taking notes. "As an early form of germ warfare. If you'll look at the map on page sixty-three you can trace the spread of the disease into Rome, and then north..."

Buffy doesn't have a book and looks around for help. The girls next to her notices and shares her book. "Thanks." She says.

"And this popular plague led to what social changes? Steve?" The teacher asks.

 

The bell rings and the students get up to leave.

"Hi! I'm Cordelia." The brunette offers her hand.

"I'm Buffy." Buffy shakes her hand.

"If you're looking for a textbook of your very own there's probably a few in the library."

"Oh, great, thanks." They get up. "Where would that be?"

"I'll show you, come on." They walk out of the classroom. "So you're from Hemery, right? In L.A.?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Oh, I would _kill_ to live in L.A." Cordelia smiles. "That close to that many shoes?" Buffy laughs as they walk down the hallway. "Well, you'll be okay here. If you hang with me and mine, you'll be accepted in no time. Of course, we do have to test your coolness factor. You're from L.A., so you can skip the written, but let's see. Vamp nail polish?"

"Um, over?"

"So over. James Spader?"

Buffy smiles. "He needs to call me!"

"Frappuccino's?"

"Trendy, but tasty."

"John Tesh?"

"The Devil."

"That was pretty much a gimme, but...you passed!"

"Oh, goody!"

They turn toward a drinking fountain. Willow is there. She straightens up and sees them coming.

"Willow! Nice dress! Good to know you've seen the softer side of Sears." Cordelia smiles.

Willow looks down at her outfit. "Uh, oh, well, my mom picked it out."

"No wonder you're such a guy magnet." Cordelia says sarcastically, smile gone. "Are you done?"

Willow looks at the fountain, then back at Cordelia. "Oh!"

Trinity walks up. "Hey Cordelia, why don't you use daddy's money to buy yourself some manners?"

"What did you just say to me?"

"You heard me." Trinity says before turning to Willow. "Let's go." She takes her arms and leads her away.

Cordelia shakes her head. "You wanna fit in here, the first rule is: know your losers. Once you can identify them all by sight..." She looks after them. "They're a lot easier to avoid."

Buffy lets out a nervous laugh and nods. She looks at Willow and Trinity again, who has gone through the door at the end of the hall. Willow looks back at them before she continues.

 

Cordelia and Buffy walk to the library. "And if you're not too swamped with catching up you should come by the Bronze tonight."

"The who?" Buffy asks.

"The Bronze. It's the only club worth going to around here. They let anybody in, but it's still the scene. It's in the bad part of town."

"Where's that?" They stop outside the library doors.

"About a half a block from the good part of town." She laughs. "We don't have a whole lot of town here. But, um, you should show!"

"Well, I'll try." She looks towards the library. "Uh, thanks."

"Good. So, um, I'll see you in gym, and you can tell me absolutely everything there is to know about you." She waves before leaving.

Buffy waves back. "Thanks." She mutters to herself. "Oh, that sounds like fun." She goes into the library and looks around. "Hello?" She calls. "Is anybody here?" She looks at the book checkout counter and sees a newspaper. A picture has been circled. 'Local Boys Still Missing.' A man in a tweed suit comes up behind her and taps her on the shoulder. She spins around, startled. "Ooh!" She gasps. "Anybody's here!"

"Can I help you?" He asks.

"I was looking for some, well, books. I'm new."

"Miss Summers?"

"Good call! Guess I'm the only new kid, huh?"

"I'm Mr. Giles. The librarian. I was told you were coming." He heads around behind the counter.

"Great! So, um, I'm gonna need 'Perspectives on 20th Century-"

"I know what you're after!" He interrupts, a large grin on his face as he pulls out a large old book with the word 'VAMPYR' written in gold leaf on the front cover.

Buffy face pales as she gazes at the book with a look of unease. "That's not what I'm looking for."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm _way_ sure."

His face curls in confusion. "My mistake." He puts the book back behind the counter. Buffy quickly leaves. He straightens back up. "So, what is it you said..." He sees her leave the library.

 

In the locker room, two girls are talking. "The new kid? She seems kind of weird to me. What kind of name is Buffy?"

"Hey, Aphrodisia!" A girl greets.

"Oh, Hey!" She smiles.

"Well, the chatter in the caf is that she got kicked out, and that's why her mom had to get a new job." Another girl says.

The girls work the combinations to their gym lockers. "Neg!"

"Pos! She was starting fights!"

"Neg-ly!"

The girl opens her locker. "Well I heard from Blue, and she said that-" The dead boy falls out of the locker onto the girls arm. She screams and backs away, letting the body fall to the floor.

 

At the school quad, Willow and Trinity are sitting on a bench. Willow begins to take out her lunch when Buffy walks up.

"Uh, Hi! Willow, right?" She says.

They look at her. "Why?" Willow asks. "I-I mean, hi! Uh, did you want us to move?"

Trinity looks at her. "We were here first." She says before looking at Buffy. "If she has a problem, she can find her own spot."

"Why don't we start with, 'Hi, I'm Buffy,' and, uh, then let's segue directly into me asking you for a favor." She sits down next to Willow. "It doesn't involve moving, but it does involve hanging out with me for a while."

"But aren't you hanging out with Cordelia?"

"I can't do both?"

Willow shakes her head. "Not legally."

Buffy sighs. "Look, I really wanna get by here...new school...and...Cordelia's been really nice...to me...anyway, but, um, I kinda have this burning desire not to flunk all my classes, and I heard a rumor that you were the person to talk to if I wanted to get caught up."

Willow smiles. "Oh, I could _totally_ help you out! Uh, if you have sixth period free we could meet in the library?"

"Or not." Buffy says. "Or we could meet someplace quieter. Louder. Uh, that place just kinda gives me the wiggins."

"Oh, it has that effect on most kids. I love it, though, it's a great collection, and the new librarian is really cool."

"He's new?"

"Yeah, he just started. He was a curator at some British museum, or, or _The_ British Museum, I'm not sure. But he knows everything, and he brought all these historical volumes and biographies, and am I the single dullest person alive?"

"Not at all." Buffy smiles.

"I'm Trinity." She says. "Welcome to the losers club, because you just committed social suicide by speaking to us."

Xander hops up onto the wall behind the girls and sits on it between them.

Jesse stands in front of them and drops his bag. "Hey!"

"You guys busy? Are we interrupting? We're interrupting." Xander says, tossing his bag to Jesse.

"Hey!" They girls greet.

"Hey there!" Jesse smiles, dropping Xander's bag next to his own.

"Buffy, this is Jesse and that's Xander." Willow introduces.

"Oh, me and Buffy go waaay back, old friends, very close. Then there's that period of estrangement where I think we were both growing as people, but now here we are, like old times, I'm quite moved." Xander rambles.

"Is it me, or are you turning into a bibbling idiot?" Jesses asks.

"No, it's, uh, it's not you." Xander answers sheepishly.

"Well, it's nice to meet you guys, I think." Buffy says. Xander reaches into his bag.

"Well, you know, we wanted to welcome ya, make ya feel at home, unless you have a scary home." Jesse says, making Trinity laugh.

"And to return this." Xander holds up the stake. "The only thing I can think is that you're building a really little fence." He hands it to her.

Buffy takes it. "Hah, no, um, a-a-actually it was for self-defense. Everyone has them in L.A. Pepper spray is just so _passé_."

"So what do you do for fun, what do you like, what do you look for in a man, let's hear it."

"If you have any dark, painful secrets you'd like us to publish?" Jesse continues.

Buffy gives a nervous laugh. "Gee, everyone wants to know about me. How keen."

"Well, not much goes on in a one Starbucks town like Sunnydale. You're pretty big news." Trinity says.

"I'm not. Really." She says.

Cordelia walks up. "Are these guys bothering you?"

"Uh, no!" Buffy says.

Willow shakes her head, an alarmed look on her face. "She's not hanging out with us."

Jesse moves closer to the girl. "Hey, Cordelia!" He smiles.

She looks at him and scoffs. "Oh, please!" She turns back to Buffy. "I don't mean to interrupt your downward mobility, but I just wanted to tell you that you won't be meeting Coach Foster, the woman with the chest hair, because gym was canceled due to the _extreme_ dead guy in the locker."

"What?" Buffy asks, shocked.

"What are you talking about?" Willow asks.

"Some guy was stuffed in Aura's locker!" She explains.

"Dead." Trinity clarifies.

"Totally dead. Way dead."

"It's not just a little dead, then?" Xander jokes.

Cordelia rolls her eyes at him. "Don't you have an elsewhere to be?"

"Y'know, if you need a shoulder to cry on, or just to nibble on..." Jesse flirts, inching closer to her.

"How did he die?" Buffy asks.

Cordelia shrugs. "I don't know."

"Well, were there any marks?"

"Morbid much! I didn't ask!"

Buffy looks at everyone. "Um, I gotta book. I'll, I'll see you guys later." She grabs her things and leaves.

Cordelia stares after her. "What's her deal?"

They miss the look of concern on Trinity's face.

 

Buffy sneaks up to an outside entrance of the gym. She tries to open and discovers that it's locked. She uses her strength to break the door and goes in; looking around to make sure no one sees her. Buffy finds the body and pulls back the sheet. She sees the vampire bite. "Oh, great." She groans.

 

Buffy barges into the library. "Okay, what's the sitch?"

Giles steps out of the stacks. "Sorry?"

"You heard about the dead guy, right? The dead guy in the locker?"

"Yes."

She drops her bag on the study table and heads up the stairs. "'Cause, it's the weirdest thing. He's got two little, little holes in his neck, and all his blood's been drained." She walks up to him. "Isn't that bizarre? Aren't you just going, 'ooh'?"

"I was afraid of this."

"Well _I_ wasn't! It's my first day! I was afraid that I was gonna be behind in all my classes, that I wouldn't make any friends, that I would have last month's hair. I didn't think there'd be vampires on campus. And I don't care." She says.

"Then why are you here?" He asks.

She loses her steam. "To tell you that...I don't care, which...I don't, and...have now told you, so...bye." She turns to leave.

"Is he, w-will he...rise again?"

She turns back. "Who?"

"The boy."

She shakes her head. "No. He's just dead."

"Can you be sure?"

"To make you a vampire they have to suck your blood. And then you have to suck their blood. It's like a whole big sucking thing. Mostly they're just gonna kill you. Why am I still talking to you?" Buffy turns and goes down the stairs.

Giles moves over to the railing. "You really have no idea what's going on, do you? You think it's coincidence, your being here? That boy was just the beginning."

"Oh, why can't you people just leave me alone?"

"Because you are the Slayer." He walks down the stairs. "Into each generation a Slayer is born, one girl in all the world, a Chosen One, one born with the strength and skill to hunt-"

Buffy interrupts him. "With the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil blah, blah, blah." She finishes. "I've heard it, okay?"

"I really don't understand this attitude. You, you've accepted your duty, you, you've slain vampires before..."

"Yeah, and I've both been there and done that, and I'm moving on."

"What do you know about this town?" He goes into his office.

"It's two hours on the freeway from Neiman Marcus?"

"Dig a bit in the history of this place. You'll find a, a steady stream of fairly odd occurrences. Now, I believe this whole area is a center of mystical energy..." He comes back, his arms filled with books. "That things gravitate towards it that, that, that you might not find elsewhere." He sets them on the table.

"Like vampires."

He puts the volumes into Buffy's arms one by one as he lists off various monsters and demons. "Like zombies, werewolves, incubi, succubi, everything you've ever dreaded was under your bed, but told yourself couldn't be by the light of day. They're all real!"

"What? You, like, sent away for the Time-Life series?"

"Ah, w-w-w-yes."

"Did you get the free phone?" She asks.

"Um, the calendar."

"Cool! But, okay." She gives him back the books. "First of all, I'm a Vampire Slayer. And secondly, I'm retired. Hey, I know! Why don't you kill 'em?"

"I-I'm a Watcher, I-I haven't the skill..."

"Oh, come on, stake through the heart, a little sunlight...it's like falling off a log."

"A, a Slayer slays, a Watcher-"

"Watches?"

"Yes. No!" He sets down the books. "He, he trains her, he, he, he prepares her-"

"Prepares me for what? For getting kicked out of school? For losing all of my friends? For having to spend all of my time fighting for my life and never getting to tell anyone because I might endanger them? Go ahead! Prepare me." Buffy sighs when he fails to respond. She turns and leaves the library in disgust.

Giles hesitates for an instant. "Damn!" He mutters to himself and rushes after her.

Xander and Trinity walk out from behind the stacks. "What?" He says, not seeing the look of fear and worry on Trinity's face.

 

Giles catches up with Buffy. "It's getting worse!"

"What's getting worse?"

He guides her over to the wall and speaks with her in a low voice. "The influx of the undead, the...supernatural occurrences, it's been building for years. There's a reason why you're here and a reason why it's now!"

"Because now is the time my mom moved here." She tries to evade him, but he puts his arm out to stop her.

"Something's coming, something, something...something is, is gonna happen here. Soon!"

"Gee, can you vague that up for me?"

"The signs, as far as I can tell, point to a crucial mystical upheaval, very soon. Days. Possibly less."

"Oh, come on! This is Sunnydale! How bad an evil can there be here?"

 

Underground, vampires bearing torches are gathering.

A male vampire kneels on the ground. "The sleeper will wake." He says in a deep voice. "The sleeper will wake. The sleeper will wake. The sleeper will wake, and the world will bleed." He looks up. "Amen!"

 

At home, Trinity opens a journal and reads the passage.

_Slayers do not understand us, they never will. We are not human and because of that, they will kill us on sight. They cannot be reasoned with. To try is foolishness that will end with your death._

Trinity looks up, a look of horror on her face. She sets the book down and runs a hand through her hair. She looks at her hand and watches as her nails turn into claws.

 

Buffy is in her room trying to figure out what to wear to the Bronze. She holds a shiny black outfit up to the mirror. "Hi! I'm an enormous slut!" She switches with a floral dress. "Hello! Would you like a copy of 'The Watchtower'?" She lowers the dress. "I used to be so good at this."

Her mother comes into the room. "Hi, hon."

Buffy returns her dresses to the closet. "Hey!"

"Are you, uh, going out tonight?" Joyce asks.

"Yeah, I'm going to a club."

"Oh. Will there be boys there?"

Buffy sends her a look. "No, Mom. It's a nun club."

"Well, just be careful."

"I will."

"You know, I think we can make it work here. I've got my positive energy flowing...I'm gonna get the Gallery on its feet..." She trails off. "Oh, uh, we may have found a space today."

"That's great."

"Oh, and that school is a, a very nurturing environment, which is just what you need."

"Well, actually..."

"Oh, not too nurturing. I know, you're sixteen, I've read all about the dangers of over-nurturing." She watches as Buffy goes to her bed and lays out a couple of outfits. "It's hard. New town and everything...it is for me, too. I'm trying to make it work." She takes her daughter's hands in hers. "I'm _going_ to make it work."

"I know."

"Oh, you're a good girl, Buffy." She pats her on the head. "You just fell in with the wrong crowd. But that is all behind us now."

"It is. From now on I am only going to hang out with the living." She lets go of her mother's hands and picks up her dresses. "I mean, lively. People." Buffy heads back to her closet with an awkward look on her face.

"Hmm. Okay. You have fun."

 

Buffy is walking down a dark street, when someone appears behind her. She senses that she is being followed. After walking for a ways, when she gets a chance she ducks down an alley and looks around for a place to hide. A cat yowls and kicks some cans as it runs away. She spies something above her.

A man comes into the alley but doesn't see her. As he slowly walks along he doesn't see Buffy in a handstand on a bar high above the pavement. As he passes underneath her, she swings down and kicks him in the back. He is knocked to the ground, and Buffy positions herself above him with a foot on his chest.

He laughs. "Is there a problem, ma'am?"

"Yeah, there's a problem. Why are you following me?" She questions.

"I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, I don't bite." He says. She backs off and lets him get up, but keeps her fighting stance. "Truth is, I thought you'd be taller, or bigger muscles and all that. You're pretty spry, though." He massages his neck.

"What do you want?"

"The same thing you do."

She relaxes her stance, letting down her guard. "Okay. What do I want?"

He steps toward her. "To kill them. To kill them all."

"Sorry, that's incorrect. But you do get this lovely watch and a year's supply of Turtle Wax. What I _want_ is to be left alone!" She starts to walks away.

"Do you really think that's an option anymore? You're standing at the Mouth of Hell. And it's about to open." He says. She turns to look at him with a wide-eyed gaze. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a small box. "Don't turn your back on this." He tosses her the box. "You've gotta be ready."

"What for?"

"For the Harvest."

"Who are you?"

"Let's just say...I'm a friend." He starts to leave.

"Yeah, well, maybe I don't want a friend." She calls after him.

He turns back, still walking. "I didn't say I was yours." He leaves.

Buffy stares after him for a moment, then opens the box. It contains a silver cross and chain. She takes it out, holds it in her hand and takes another glance in his direction.

 

Outside the Bronze, people are arriving and meeting. Buffy is wearing the cross around her neck. She walks up to the entrance, gives the doorman some cash and goes in.

The dance floor is crowded as the band plays.

_Oh, I just want to believe_

_Can you hear me?_

_Can you see me?_

_What's inside of me?_

_Oh, I just want to believe_

_If my life can have a purpose_

_Help me to believe_

_Oh, I just want to believe_

_Can you hear me?_

_Can you see me?_

_What's inside of me?_

_Oh, I just want to believe_

_If my life can have a purpose_

_Help me to believe_

Buffy moves to the music a bit. She sees a guy waving in her direction and waves back, then notices someone behind her waving back and pulls her hand down, embarrassed.

_Everybody wants to find the circle_

_The line of truth that has no end_

_Because so many nights I've slept with the feeling of empty_

_And I say, right now I'm ready to believe_

She finds the bar and sees Willow and Trinity sitting there. "Hey!" She greets.

Willow perks up. "Oh, hi!" She smiles. Trinity nods in acknowledgement. Buffy takes a seat on the stool next to Willow. "Hi!"

"Oh, are you guys here with someone?" Buffy asks. "Am I interrupting something?"

Willow shakes her head. "No, we're just here. I thought Xander was gonna show up."

"Oh, are you guys going out?"

"No, we're just friends. We used to go out, but we broke up."

"How come?"

"He stole my Barbie." She sees the confused look on Buffy's face. "Oh, we were five."

Buffy nods. "Oh."

"I-I-I don't actually date a whole lot...lately."

"Why not?"

"Well, when I'm with a boy I like, it's hard for me to say anything cool, or, or witty, or at all. I-I can usually make a few vowel sounds, and then I have to go away."

"It's not _that_ bad!"

"No, i-it is. I think boys are more interested in a girl who can talk."

"You really _haven't_ been dating lately."

"It's probably easy for you."

"Yeah, real easy."

"I-I mean you don't seem too shy."

"Well, my philosophy, do you wanna hear my philosophy?"

"Yeah, I do!" Willow nods eagerly.

"Life is short." Buffy says.

Trinity holds back a laugh. _Don't you know it._ She thinks.

"Life is short!" Willow repeats.

Buffy shrugs. "Not original, I'll grant you, but it's true. You know? Why waste time being all shy and worrying about some guy, and if he's gonna laugh at you. Seize the moment, 'cause tomorrow you might be dead."

"Oh, that's nice!"

Buffy looks at Trinity. "Are you and Jesse dating?" She asks, making Willow laugh.

Trinity smiles. "No. I'm not interested in him...or anyone with a penis."

"Oh." Buffy says, her eyes widening.

"Oh." Trinity nods.

Buffy looks up and sees Giles on the upper level. "Um, I'll be back in a minute." She gets up.

"Oh, tha-that's okay, you don't have to come back." Willow says.

Buffy smiles. "I'll be back in a minute." She walks away.

"Seize the moment." Willow mutters to herself.

"Do you think I scared her off?" Trinity asks.

Willow looks at her. "No way! She seems really nice. I'm sure that she doesn't have a problem with you. And if she does, she'll have to go through me!" She nods.

Trinity smiles. "Thank you Willow." She gets up. "I'm going to head to the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute." Willow nods and Trinity walks away.

 

_I feel love with my friends_

_I feel love in my songs_

_If I could just hold love_

_Then all the answers might come_

_I said, oh, if we're all children of God_

_And we just turned away_

_I got a lack of belief_

_I said a world without faith_

_It's time we turn back around_

Buffy walks up to Giles. "So, you like to party with the students. Isn't that kinda skanky?"

He sends her an annoyed look. "Oh, right, this is me having fun. Watching...clown hair prance about is hardly my idea of a party. I'd much rather be at home with a cup of Bovril and a good book."

"You need a personality, stat!"

He points to the crowd below. "This is a perfect breeding ground for vampire activity. It's dark, it's crowded...besides, I knew you were likely to show up, and I have to make you understand-"

"That the Harvest is coming." She says. "I know, your friend told me."

He looks at her, confused. "What did you say?"

"The Harvest. That mean something to you? 'Cause I'm drawing a blank."

"I'm not sure. Uh...w-who told you this?"

"This...guy. Dark, gorgeous in an annoying sort of way. I figured you two were buds."

He shakes his head. "No. The Harvest. Did he say anything else?"

"Something about the Mouth of Hell. I _really_ didn't like him!"

The crowd applauds as the band finishes their song and starts a new one.

Giles moves around Buffy, leans on the railing and looks down at the crowd. "Look at them, throwing themselves about; completely unaware of the danger that surrounds them."

"Lucky them."

"Or perhaps you're right. Perhaps there is no trouble coming; the signs could be wrong. It's not as though you've been having the nightmares."

Buffy doesn't respond.

 

"My mom doesn't even _get_ out of bed anymore." Cordelia tells her friends. "And the doctor says it's Epstein-Barr. I'm like, pleeease! It's chronic hepatitis, or at least chronic fatigue syndrome. I mean, _nobody_ cool has Epstein-Barr anymore."

Jesse spots Cordelia and comes over. "Hey, Cordelia!"

She rolls her eyes. "Oh, yay, it's my stalker."

"Hey, you, uh, you look great!"

"Well, I'm glad we had this little chat." She dismisses him.

He coughs. "Listen, uh, you know, you wanna dance, you know?"

"With you?"

"Well, uh, yeah."

"Well, uh, no! C'mon, guys." She and her friends walk away.

"Fine! Plenty of other fish in the sea. Oh, yeah, I'm...on the prowl. Witness me prowling!" He tries to save face.

 

"I didn't say I'd never slay another vampire." Buffy says. "It's not like I have all these fluffy-bunny feelings for them, I'm just not gonna get way extracurricular with it. You know, if I see one, sure I'll-"

"Will you be ready?" Giles interrupts. "There's so much you don't know about them, about your own powers. A vampire appears to be completely normal until the feed is upon them, only then do they reveal their true demonic visage."

"You're like a textbook with arms, I know this."

"The point is, a Slayer should be able to see them anyway. Without looking, without thinking. Can you tell me if there's a vampire in this building?"

"Maybe..."

"You should know. Even through this mass and this...din, you should be able to sense them. Well, try! Reach out with your mind." Buffy looks around. "You have to hone your senses, focus until the energy washes over you, until you, you feel every particle of-of-"

"There's one." She points.

He looks around. "W-where?"

"Right there, talking to that girl."

"You don't know-"

"Oh, please! Look at his jacket. He's got the sleeves rolled up, and the shirt! Deal with that outfit for a moment."

"It's dated?"

"It's carbon dated. Trust me, only someone living underground for ten years would think that was still the look."

"But you didn't...hone."

Buffy looks closer at the girl. "Oh, no."

Giles looks as well. "Isn't that-"

"Willow."

"What's she doing?"

"Seizing the moment!" She rushes down the stairs.

 

Trinity walks out of the bathroom and makes her way through the crowd.

 

_We're formed in liquid_

_Pushed out still dripping_

_A world was thrown before my eyes_

Willow is being led out of the Bronze by the vampire.

Giles is at a loss for what to do.

 

_Now paint a picture_

_Crayon stick figures_

_With blue-haired people, purple skies_

Trinity walks up to Buffy. "Have you seen Willow? I can't find her." She asks, but Buffy continues on. "Hey!"

 

Buffy has lost them. She tries the back. She breaks a leg off of a chair from a stack and begins to walk. After a while Cordelia comes out of the restroom and surprises her. Buffy reacts, grabbing Cordelia by the throat and pushing her up against a wall. "Cordelia!" Buffy says, surprised to see her classmate. She releases her.

"God! What is your childhood trauma?!" Cordelia says. Her entourage appears in the restroom door behind her.

"Have you guys seen Willow? Did she come by here?"

"Why? Do you need to attack her with the stick? Jeez!" Cordelia says. Buffy turns and leaves, not noticing Trinity following behind her. Cordelia turns to her friends. "Excuse me, I have to call _everyone_ I have _ever_ met, right now."

 

Giles catches up with Buffy. "That _was_ quick. Well done! I-I need to go to the library. This Harvest thing-"

"I didn't find them!" She says.

He grabs Buffy by the arm and turns her to face him. "The vampire is not dead?"

"No, but my social life is on the critical list."

He lets go of her. "So, what do we do?"

"I'll take care of it!"

"Don't worry. One vampire I can handle." She leaves, walking past Jesse talking to a girl.

"So, um, what did you say your name was?" He asks.

The blonde smiles up at him, it the vampire from earlier. "Darla."

"Darla. You know, I haven't seen you around before. Are you from around here?"

"No, but I have family here."

"Have I met them?"

"You probably will."

 

The Master rises out of the pool of blood as Luke kneels and looks on. He steps out of the pool over to Luke and offers his hand.

Luke takes it. "Master!"

"I am weak." He says.

"In the Harvest, he will be restored." Luke quotes.

"The Harvest."

"We're almost there. Soon you'll be free!"

The Master reaches his arm out to test his mystical confines. "I must be ready. I need my strength."

"I've sent your servants to bring you some food."

"Good. Luke?"

"Yes?"

"Bring me something...young."

 

Willow and Thomas are walking on the sidewalk next to the cemetery. "Sure is dark." She says.

"It's night."

"Well, that's a dark time, night. Traditionally. I still can't believe I've never seen you at school. Do you have Mr. Chomsky for history?" Thomas ignores her babbling and heads into the cemetery. "Uh, the ice cream bar is this way. It's past Hamilton Street?"

"I know a shortcut." He grabs her hand and leads her into the cemetery.

 

Trinity follows Buffy outside the Bronze. "Buffy. Buffy!" She calls.

"I can't right now Trinity."

"Where's Willow?" She asks.

Xander sees them. "Hey, you're leaving already?"

"Oh, Xander!" Buffy says. "Have you seen Willow?"

"Not tonight, no."

"She left with a guy."

"We're talking about Willow, right? Scorin' at the Bronze, work it girl-"

"No, I need to find her. Where would he take her?"

"Why? Oh, hey, I hope he's not a vampire, because then you might have to slay him." He teases.

Buffy is taken aback. "Was there a-a school bulletin? Was it i-in the newspaper? Is there anyone in this town who doesn't know I'm the Slayer?"

"No. I only know that you _think_ that you're the Slayer, and the reason why I know that-"

"Well, whatever, it doesn't matter; just tell me, where would Willow go?"

He looks at her. "You're serious!"

"We don't find her and there's gonna be one more dead body in the morning!"

Trinity walks further away. "Follow me!"

They look at her. "You know where she is?" Buffy asks.

"I can smell her." She continues.

"What do you mean you can smell her?" Xander asks.

"Her scent." Trinity says. "Now that we're out of the club, it's easier to follow."

Buffy grabs her arm. "What are you?"

"Nothing you need to worry about." Trinity glares at her. "Now let me go so I can find my best friend."

 

Willow and Thomas walk through the cemetery. "Oh, okay, th-this is nice...and scary." She says. "Are you sure this is faster?" They reach a mausoleum.

"Hey! Ever been in one of these?"

"No. Thank you." She turns away.

"Come on." He comes up behind her and pulls her hair back. "What are you afraid of?" He moves in toward her neck. She lets out a yelp as he grabs her and pushes her into the mausoleum.

Willow trips down the stairs and stops up against the stone coffin. She turns around. "That wasn't funny!" She glares at him. Thomas comes down the steps. She backs away from him, against a wall. She trips over some stones. "I think I'm gonna go."

"Is that what you think?" He comes toward her again. She skirts by him, but only because he lets her.

Darla blocks her way out of the mausoleum. "Is this the best you could do?" She asks.

"She's fresh!" Thomas says.

"Hardly enough to share."

"Why didn't you bring your own?"

She sends him a look. "I did."

Jesse stumbles into the mausoleum, holding his neck. "Hey! Wait up!"

"Oh, my God, Jesse!" Willow says.

He is weak from blood loss and collapses. Willow tries to catch him and breaks his fall. "Y'know, you gave me a hickey." He says. Thomas gives Darla a look.

She shrugs. "I got hungry on the way."

"Jesse, let's get outta here!" Willow says.

Darla shakes her head. "Oh, you're not going anywhere."

Willow stands up. "Leave us alone!"

"You're not going anywhere until we've" She vamps out. " _fed_!" Willow screams and falls back down next to Jesse. Buffy, Trinity, and Xander show up.

"Well, this is nice. I-it's a little bare, but a dash of paint, a few throw pillows...call it home!" Buffy moves behind the coffin to draw the vampires away from the others.

Darla looks at her. "Who the hell are you?"

"You mean there's actually someone in this town who doesn't know already? Whew, that's a relief, I'm telling you! Having a secret identity in this town is a job of work."

"Buffy, we bail now, right?" Xander asks.

"Not Yet!" Thomas says.

"Okay, first of all, what's with the outfit? Live in the now, okay? You look like DeBarge!" Buffy says. The vampires close in on her. She turns to Darla. "Now, we can do this the hard way, or...well, actually there's just the hard way."

"That's fine with me!" Darla says.

"Are you sure? Now, this is not gonna be pretty. We're talking violence, strong language, adult content..." Buffy says. Thomas growls. She pulls the chair leg out from inside her shirt. He attacks from behind, but Buffy neatly jams the makeshift stake into his chest. He falls back and turns to ashes. Darla can't believe her eyes. Trinity is the only one who doesn't look surprised. "See what happens when you roughhouse?"

"He was young and stupid!"

"Xander, Trinity, go!" Buffy orders. They gather Willow and Jesses and flee.

"Don't go far!" Darla calls.

Buffy and Darla start to fight. Darla punches high, but Buffy blocks. Darla throws a backhand punch, but Buffy blocks again and follows up with a front snap kick to Darla's stomach. As she leans forward from the pain, Buffy slams her elbow into Darla's back, making her hit the wall and falls to the floor, winded.

"You know, I just wanted to start over. Be like everybody else. Have some friends, y'know, maybe a dog...but, no, you had to come here, you couldn't go suck on some other town." Buffy says.

"Who are you?"

"Don't you know?"

Luke grabs her by the neck from behind. "I don't care!" He throws her across the room. He grabs Darla and lifts her to her feet. "You were supposed to be bringing an offering for the Master! We're almost at Harvest, and you dally with this child!"

"We had someone, but then she came. She killed Thomas. Luke, she's strong." She explains, fear in her voice.

"You go. I'll see if I can handle the little girl." He approaches Buffy as she starts to get up, still a little dazed. Darla quickly climbs the steps, looks back once and runs out of the door. Luke attacks Buffy with a double punch, but she blocks it and delivers a punch to his gut and a hopping front snap kick to his jaw. He steps back, but isn't fazed. "You're strong." He lands a solid backhand fist on her. She goes flying. "I'm stronger!"

 

Xander and Trinity are supporting Jesse as they run, Willow helping them.

"We'll get the police; it's just a few blocks up!" Willow says.

A group of vampires stand in front of them. Trinity lets go of Jesse and stand her front of her friend. Her eyes slit and claws grow. She hisses at the vampires.

 

"You're wasting my time." Luke says.

Buffy backs away up the stairs toward the exit. "Hey, I had other plans, too, okay?"

Luke shoves the heavy lid off of the coffin. Buffy does a cartwheel onto and over it to avoid it and kicks Luke in the chest with both feet, knocking him down. She grabs the stake from the floor and lunges at Luke, but he is too quick for her, and grabs her by the wrist. "You think you can stop me? Stop us?" He grabs the stake with his other hand and breaks it. Then he grabs her by the shirt. "You have no idea what you're dealing with." He throws Buffy onto the rim of the now open coffin. She rolls off onto the floor, dazed. Luke gets up and starts toward her, quoting scripture. "And like a plague of boils, the race of man covered the Earth."

 

Giles is paging through an old volume and stops on a picture of Satan with lightning coming from his hand to a man's.

 

"But on the third day of the newest light would come the Harvest. And the blood of men will flow as wine." Luke says.

 

The Master is sitting in an intricately carved chair.

 

"When the Master will walk among them once more."

 

Xander, Willow, Trinity, and Jesse are surrounded by vampires, including Darla. The vampires make a wide berth around Trinity as she hisses and swipes at them with her claws.

 

"The Earth will belong to the old ones." Luke continues. "And Hell itself will come to town." He grabs Buffy and growls. He lifts her by the throat and throws her toward the coffin. Buffy flips over in a front layout and lands in the coffin next to a skeleton, and lets out a quick scream, but then remains silent, only breathing. She can't see or hear Luke. She slowly starts to get up. Suddenly Luke jumps up and into the coffin. He smiles. "Amen!" He moves in to bite Buffy.


	2. The Harvest

Luke tries to bite Buffy, but burns himself on the cross hanging around her neck and jerks back. Buffy seizes the opportunity and push kicks him out of the coffin. She climbs out of it and races outside. She runs to catch up with Willow, Trinity, Xander, and Jesse. She hears a vampire growl, and a scream that follows it.

 

Willow is on the ground, a vampire leaning over her. "No! Get off!"

"Hey!" Buffy yells. The vampire looks up, and Buffy snap kicks him off of Willow. He gets up and runs away. Willow is shocked by what she sees. Buffy quickly starts the hunt again. Willow gets up and runs after her.

 

Xander is being dragged away by two vampires. Willow appears between two gravestones. "Xander!" She calls. The vampires are distracted. Buffy takes advantage of the opening and jumps in, high punches one and sidekicks the other. She notices a dry branch on a tree and breaks it off. As one of the vampires gets up she plunges the stick into him. Willow rushes over to Xander who's still on the ground. "Xander, are you okay?"

He puts a hand to his head. "Man, something hit me." He looks up. "Trinity!"

 

Trinity is on the ground, doing her best to block the kicks of the vampires. She lashes out with her claws and cuts a vampire's leg. He yells, distracting his friend. She reaches out again and claws the other vampire's leg, making him back away. They flee with noticeable limps. She stands from the ground and looks at her friends before her eyes fall to the ground. She runs away.

"Where's Jesse?" Buffy asks.

"I don't know! They surrounded us." Willow says.

"That girl grabbed him and took off." Xander adds.

"Which way?" Buffy questions.

He shakes his head. "I don't know."

She stands up straight and slowly scans the cemetery. "Jesse." She whispers. She looks back at them. "Where's Trinity?"

"I don't know." Willow says. "She tried to fight them but there were too many...her eyes...she had claws!"

"What is she?" Xander asks.

 

In the library, the globe up on the stack level is spinning. Giles stops it while he lectures and makes his way down to where Buffy, Willow and Xander are at the study table. "This world is older than any of you know. Contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons demons walked the Earth. They made it their home, their...their Hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. The way was made for mortal animals, for, for man. All that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magic's, certain creatures."

"And vampires." Buffy adds.

"Okay, this is where I have a problem. See, because we're talking about vampires. We're having a  _talk_  with vampires in it." Xander says.

"Isn't that what we saw last night?" Willow asks.

Buffy shakes her head. "No. No, th-those weren't vampires, those were just guys in thundering need of a facial. Or maybe they had rabies. It could have been rabies. A-and that guy turning to dust? Just a trick of light." Xander gives her a look. "That's exactly what I said the first time I saw a vampire. Well, after I was done with the screaming part."

"Oh, I-I need to sit down." Willow says.

Buffy looks at her. "You are sitting down."

"Oh. Good for me."

"So vampires are demons?" Xander asks.

"The books tell the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed, infected by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another, and so they walk the Earth, feeding...killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out, and the old ones to return." Giles explains.

"What about Trinity?" Willow asks. "She-she changed, but she was helping us. She was trying to protect us?"

"Changed?" Giles asks. "How so?"

"W-well, she grew claws and her eyes changed. She started hissing at the vampires when they tried to come near us."

"That doesn't sound like a vampire."

"What is she?" Xander asks.

"A neko." They turn and see Trinity at the library doors. She walks further into the room. "I'm a neko." She sees Buffy stand up. "Relax; I'm not going to hurt you." She looks at Willow and Xander. "I'm still the same person you grew up with. I just have a few..." A black tail creeps out from behind her, making their eyes widen. "Secrets."

"A neko." Giles says, going to the stack to grab a book. He walks back over. "You're of the felis catus group, not particularly threatening, but capable of great damage if you don't control yourself."

"I've been controlling myself for 16 years." Trinity says. "I'm not going to go crazy now."

"A cat?" Xander says. "You're a cat." Trinity waves her claws at him, a grimace on her face.

"Tree!" Willow says, making them look at her in confusion. "When we were seven, you bet Jesse that you could climb the highest tree at the park, but a branch broke and you fell."

"You landed on your feet." Xander finishes. "I guess that is true."

Trinity looks at Buffy. "I've never hurt anyone in my life, so don't get all slay happy just because I'm not completely human."

 

Down in the sewers, Darla and Luke are forcing Jesse into the Master's lair.

"Move!" Luke orders. They reach the lair, which is actually what remains of a church, and he forces Jesse down the slope to the floor below.

The Master approaches. "Is this for me?"

"An offering, Master."

"He's a good one! His blood is pure!" Darla says.

The Master looks at her. "You've tasted it." He says. Darla looks down in shame. "I'm your...faithful dog. You bring me scraps."

"I, I didn't mean it-"

"I have waited. For three score years I have waited. While you come and go I am stuck here, here in this house of...worship!" He spits out in contempt. "My ascension is almost at hand. Pray that when it comes..." He wraps a hand around Darla's neck. "I'm in a better mood."

"Master, forgive me! We had more offerings, but there was trouble. A girl!"

"And there was a girl." Luke explains. "She fought well and she knew of our breed. It is possible that she may be-"

"A Slayer!" The Master says.

 

"And that would be a what?" Xander asks.

"For as long as there have been vampires, there's been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One." Giles explains.

"He loves doing this part." Buffy says.

Giles sighs. "Alright. The Slayer hunts vampires, Buffy is a Slayer, don't tell anyone. Well, I think that's all the vampire information you need."

"Except for one thing; how do you kill them?" Xander asks.

Buffy looks at him. " _You_ don't,  _I_ do."

"Well, Jesse's my-"

"Jesse is  _my_ responsibility. I let him get taken."

"That's not true." Trinity says, sad that she couldn't protect her friend.

"If you hadn't shown up they would have taken us, too." Willow says. "Does anybody mind if I pass out?"

Buffy looks at her. "Breathe."

"Breathe."

"Breathe." She turns to Giles. "This big guy, Luke. He talked about an offering to the Master. Now, I don't know what or who, but if they weren't just feeding then Jesse may still be alive. I'm gonna find him."

"Uh, this may be the dumb question, but shouldn't we call the police?" Willow asks.

"And they'd believe us, of course." Giles says, sarcastically.

"Well, we don't have to say vampires. We, we could just say that there's a, a bad man."

"They couldn't handle it even if they did show up." Trinity says.

Buffy nods. "They'd only come with guns."

"You have no idea where they took Jesse?" Giles asks.

Buffy shook her head. "I looked around, but soon as they got clear of the graveyard, they could have just, voom!"

"They can fly?" Xander asks.

"They can drive."

"Oh."

"I don't remember hearing a car." Willow says.

"I was too distracted to get a lock on his scent." Trinity says.

"Let's take an enormous intuitive leap, shall we, and say they went underground." Giles speaks.

"Vampires really jam on sewer systems. You can get anywhere in the entire town without catching any rays." Buffy explains. "But I didn't see any access around there."

"Well, there's an electrical tunnel that runs under the whole town." Xander says.

Giles nods. "If we had a diagnostic of the tunnel system it might indicate a, a meeting place, it would, uh...I suppose we could go to the building commission."

"We  _so_  don't have time." Buffy says.

Willow speaks up. "Uh, guys? There may be another way."

 

"A Slayer!" The Master says. "Have you any proof?"

"Only that she fought me, and yet lives." Luke says.

"Hmm, very nearly proof enough. I can't remember the last time that happened."

Luke looks down, ashamed. "1843. Madrid. He caught me sleeping."

"She mustn't be allowed to interfere with the Harvest!"

"I would never let that happen!"

"Don't worry about it. I believe she'll come to us. We have something she wants." The Master says. Luke looks at Jesse with a smirk on his face. "If she is a Slayer, and this boy lives, she'll try to save him."

"I thought you nothing more than a meal, boy." He moves behind Jesse and takes his neck. "Congratulations, you've just been upgraded. To bait."

"There's another with her." Darla speaks. "A girl. She's a neko."

"Oh!" The Master says. "It's been so long since I've seen one. I could do with a pet."

 

Willow has the city plans on the computer monitor.

"There it is." Buffy says.

Trinity looks at it. "That runs under the graveyard."

"I don't see any access." Xander says.

"So, all the city plans are just, uh, open to the public?" Giles asks.

Willow's eyes widen. "Um, well, i-in a way. I sort of stumbled onto them when I accidentally decrypted the city council's security system."

"Someone's been naughty." Xander teases.

Buffy sighs. "There's nothing here, this is useless!"

Giles looks at her. "I think you're being a bit hard on yourself."

"You're the one that told me that I wasn't prepared enough. Understatement!" She gives an exasperated sigh. "I thought I was on top of everything, and then that monster, Luke, came out of nowhere..." She pauses in thought.

"What?" Trinity asks.

"He didn't come out of nowhere. He came from behind me. I was facing the entrance, he came from behind me, and he didn't follow me out. The access to the tunnels is in the mausoleum! The girl must have doubled back with Jesse after I got out! God! I am  _so_  mentally challenged!"

"So, what's the plan? We saddle up, right?" Xander asks, Trinity nodding.

"There's no 'we', okay? I'm the Slayer, and you're not."

"I knew you'd throw that back in my face."

"Xander, this is deeply dangerous."

"I'm inadequate. That's fine. I'm less than a man."

"Buffy, I'm not anxious to go into a dark place full of monsters. But I do want to help. I need to." Willow says.

"I can help too." Trinity says. "I see well in the dark and hopefully I can pick up a scent. I wasn't much help last night, but I was too busy trying to avoid being kicked in the face."

"Well, then help me. I've been researching this Harvest affair. It seems to be some sort of preordained massacre. Rivers of blood, Hell on Earth, quite charmless. I'm a bit fuzzy, however, on the details. It may be that you can wrest some information from that dreaded machine." Giles says. Everyone stares at him. "That was a bit, um, British, wasn't it?"

Buffy smiles. "Welcome to the New World."

He turns to Willow. "I want you to go on the 'Net."

"Oh, sure, I can do that." She begins to type.

"Then I'm outta here. If Jesse's alive, I'll bring him back." Buffy starts to leave.

"Do I have to tell you to be careful?" Giles says. Buffy turns back, giving him a look before continuing.

 

Buffy strides to the side gate.

Mr. Flutie is there and stops her. "And where do we think we're going?"

"We?" She turns to face him. "I...me..."

"We're not leaving school grounds, are we?"

"No! No, I'm...just admiring the fence. You know, this is quality fence work."

"Because if we were leaving schools grounds on our second day at a new school, after getting kicked out of our old school for delinquent behavior...do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Mr. Giles..." She trails off.

"What?"

"He asked me to get a book for him. Uh, from the store, 'cause I have a free period, and I'm a big reader. Did it mention that in my transcripts?"

"Mr. Giles?"

"Ask him."

He closes the gate. "Well, maybe that's how they do things in  _Britain_ , they've got that royal family and all kinds of problems." He locks it. "But here at Sunnydale nobody leaves campus while school's in session. Are we clear?"

"We're clear."

"That's the Buffy Summers I want in my school. Sensible girl with her feet on the ground!" He turns and leaves.

Buffy watches him go. When he's gone a ways she crouches and leaps over the fence.

 

Willow, Trinity, and Xander walk down a hall. "Murder, death, disaster. What else?" Willow asks.

"Paranormal, unexplained, did you get natural disasters?" Xander asks.

"Earthquake, flood."

"Rain of Toads."

"Right."

"Rain of Toads! Do you think they'd have anything like that in the paper?"

"I'll put it on the computer search. If it's in there, it'll turn up. Anything that'll lead us to vampires."

"And I, in the meantime, will help by standing around like an idiot."

"Not like an idiot, just...standing. Buffy doesn't want you getting hurt." They stop in front of their next class. "I don't want you getting hurt." She says, looking between him and Trinity.

"This is just too much. I mean, yesterday my life's like, 'Uh-oh, pop quiz.' Today it's 'Rain of Toads'."

"I know. And everyone else thinks it's just a normal day."

"Nobody knows. It's like we've got this big secret."

"We do. That's what a secret is, when you know something other guys don't."

He turns to Trinity. "And you knew."

She shrugs. "I'm a cat. I stay out of things that don't involve me."

"Right. Look, maybe you should get to class." He motions towards the door.

"You mean 'we'. We should get to class." Willow says.

"Yeah."

"Buffy'll be okay. Whatever's down there, I think she can handle it."

He nods. "Yeah, I do, too."

"So do I!"

Trinity shares a look with Xander.

 

Buffy walks into the mausoleum slowly. She scans around. Satisfied that no one's there, she walks down the steps to the floor. She hears a rat behind her and twists to look toward the sound. She continues and finds the tunnel access. It's locked with a chain. She lifts the lock.

The man from the night before appears behind her. He sighs.

She turns to look at him. "I don't suppose you've got a key on you?"

"They really don't like me dropping in." He says.

"Why not?"

"They really don't like me."

"How could that possibly be?"

"I knew you'd figure out this entryway sooner or later. Actually, I thought it was gonna be a  _little_  sooner."

"Sorry you had to wait." She sighs. "Okay. Look, if you're gonna be popping up with this Cryptic Wise Man act on a regular basis, can you at least tell me your name?"

"Angel."

"Angel. It's a pretty name." She turns to the tunnel entrance.

"Don't...go down there."

She turns back. "Deal with my going."

"You shouldn't be putting yourself at risk. Tonight is the Harvest. Unless you can prevent it, the Master walks."

"Well, if this Harvest thing is such a suckfest, why don't  _you_  stop it?"

"'Cause I'm afraid." He answers honestly. She looks at him for a moment and then spins around quickly, kicking open the doors to the tunnel. She turns back to him. "They'll be expecting you."

"I've got a friend down there. Or at least a potential friend. Do you know what it's like to have a friend?" He lowers his eyes as a look of sadness fills them. "That wasn't supposed to be a stumper."

They look at each other a moment longer. "When you hit the tunnels head east towards the school. That's where you're likely to find them."

"You gonna wish me luck?"

He doesn't respond. They look at each other for another moment, then Buffy turns and heads into the tunnels. He watches her go. "Good luck." He whispers.

 

Inside the tunnels, Buffy comes down a flight of stairs. She looks around. She hears rats. One crawls across her shoes. She slowly starts down the tunnels. There are lights at regular intervals. When she reaches an intersection, Xander and Trinity surprise her from behind.

"Did you see anything?" He asks.

She gasps in fright. "What are you guys doing here?!"

"Something stupid." Xander says.

"We followed you." Trinity adds.

"Well, you-" Buffy starts.

"We couldn't just sit at home and do nothing."

"I understand. Now, go away!"

"No!" Xander says.

"You're gonna have to."

"Look, Jesse's our bud, okay? If we can help him out, that's what we gotta do." He argues. Buffy considers, then nods her head for them to follow. She starts down the tunnel again. "Besides, it's this or chem class." They reach the top of some stairs. "Okay, so, crosses, garlic, stake through the heart."

Buffy nods. "That'll get it done."

"Cool! Of course, I don't actually have any of those things."

Buffy hands him a cross. "Good thinking." She turns to Trinity. "What about you?"

Trinity holds up her claws. "I'm good." She says. "It's not exactly a stake but I'm pretty sure that vampires will slow down after having their throat ripped out."

Xander looks at her for a moment before speaking again. "Well, the part of my brain that would tell me to bring that stuff is still busy telling me not to come down here. I have this, though." He turns on a flashlight.

"Turn that off!" Buffy urges.

He quickly turns it off. "Okay! Okay! So, what else?"

"What else what?"

"For vampire slayage."

"Oh, fire, beheading, sunlight, holy water, the usual."

"You've done some beheading in your time?"

"Oh, yeah." She nods. "There was this time I was pinned down by this guy that played left tackle for varsity...well, at least he used to before he was a vampire...anyway, he had this really, really thick neck, and all I had was a little, little Exact-O knife." Xander laughs nervously. She looks at him. "You're not loving this story."

"No, actually, I find it oddly comforting."

"I'd like to hear more." Trinity says.

 

Giles is reading from a volume. "For they will gather and be gathered. From the Vessel pours life. P... Pours life..." He turns the page back to the picture of Satan feeding power to a man. "On the night of the crescent moon, the first past the solstice it will come..." His eyes fill with realization. "Of course. That's tonight!"

 

In the computer lab, Cordelia is struggling with her computer programming assignment. "No! It's supposed to find the syntax and match it. Or wait..."

"Are we going to the Bronze tonight?" Harmony asks.

"No, we're going to the other cool place in Sunnydale." Cordelia say sarcastically. She sees the confused look on Harmony's face. "Of course we're going to the Bronze. Friday night? No cover? But you should have been there last night. 'Cause I ran into Buffy..." Willow overhears the conversation. "And can she be any weirder? She attacked me! Do you believe it?"

Harmony sighs. "I think we did this part wrong."

"Why do we have to devise these programs, isn't that what nerds are for?" She motions toward Willow. "What'd she do?" She whispers.

Harmony looks at Willow's screen and sees she's surfing a newspaper archive website. She turns back to Cordelia. "Uh, she's doing something else."

"Okay, and then pattern run, right? Or go to end? That's it!"

"Maybe!"

"So anyway, I come outta the bathroom, and she comes running at me. Screaming! With a stick! 'I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna kill you!' I swear!"

A boy leans in, joining the conversation. "Who?"

"Buffy!"

"The new girl?" Harmony says.

"What's her deal?"

"Well, she's crazed." Cordelia tells him.

"Did you hear about her old school?" Harmony asks. Cordelia and the boy both shake their heads. "Booted."

"Well, I exhibit no surprise."

"Why was she kicked out?" The boy asks.

"Uh, because she's a psycho loony!" Cordelia says.

Willow speaks up. "No, she's not."

Cordelia looks at her. "What?"

Willow turns to them. "She's not a psycho. You don't even know her."

"Excuse me? Who gave you permission to exist?" She snaps. Willow turns away, eyes down. "Do I horn in on your private discussions? No. Why? Because you're boring."

Willow gets up and goes to get her printouts.

"Okay, I think the program's done." Harmony says.

Cordelia sighs in relief. "Finally the nightmare ends! Okay, so how do we save it?"

"Deliver." Willow says.

"Deliver? Where's that?" She searches the keyboard. "Oh!" She hits the 'Del' key, and her program disappears. She stares at the screen in wide-eyed, open-mouthed horror.

 

"They're close." Buffy says.

"How can you tell?" Xander asks.

"No more rats."

Trinity stops. "I smell something."

Xander turns on his flashlight and spots Jesse on the ground. "Jesse!"

"Oh, no!" Buffy says. Jesse reacts and jumps up.

"J-J-Jesse!"

"Xander!" He says. The two boys embrace.

"Jesse, man, are you okay?"

"I am not okay, on an  _epic_  scale." He tells them.

Trinity brows furrow as she breathes through her nose.  _Vampire._ She looks at her friend.  _But he's been kidnapped by a group of them. Their scents are all over the place. I must be wrong._ She thinks, unwilling to face the truth.

Buffy shines the light on the shackles around Jesse's ankle. "We gotta get outta here!" He says.

"It's cool, Buffy's a superhero." Xander says. "And Trinity has some super kitty powers."

"Hold on." Buffy kneels down and breaks the shackles.

"Do you think anyone heard that?" He asks. They see shadows moving on the walls and start to run down the tunnel. Vampires come around the corner.

"They knew you were gonna come. They said that I... I was the bait." Jesse tells them.

Trinity rolls her eyes. "Oh, great, now you tell us." They round a corner and are met by vampires.

"Oops!" Buffy says.

Jesse backs away. "Oh, no, no, no, no!"

"Do you know another way out?"

"I dunno. Maybe. C'mon!" He leads them to another intersection they see glowing eyes to their right. "Wait, wait. They brought me through here, there, there should be a way up. I hope!" Jesse leads them into a chamber.

Buffy looks around. "I don't think this is the way out!"

"We can't fight our way back through those things." Trinity says.

"What do we do?" Xander asks.

"I got an idea." Jesse says from behind them. They turn around to see that his face is vamped out. "You can die!"

Trinity's eyes fill with tears.

Xander shakes his head. "Jesse, man. I'm sorry."

"Sorry? I feel good, Xander! I feel strong! I'm connected, man, to everything!" Jesse smiles. Buffy begins struggling with the door, trying to close it. "I, I can hear the worms in the earth!"

"That's a plus."

"I know what the Master wants. I'll serve his purpose. That means you die. And I feed."

Buffy looks back at them. "Xander, the cross!"

He holds the cross up to Jesse's face, making him step back and growl. "Jesse, man. We're buds, don't you remember?" He pleads.

"You're like a shadow to me now."

"Then get outta my face."

Jesse knocks Xander's arm to the side, making him hit the wall. Trinity grabs Jesse and throws him out of the chamber into the advancing vampires, knocking them all down. She begins to help Buffy close the door. "Xander!" She calls. Xander gets up and helps them. Together they get it to move. They close it on a vampire's arm. The vampire pulls its arm back out of the door, and Buffy slams it shut and closes the latch. The vampires begin pounding on the door.

"We need to get out of here!" Buffy says.

"There is no out of here!" He uses his flashlight to look around and spots a grate in the ceiling. "Up there!"

Trinity leaps on top of a barrel and begins to pry the grate open. The vampires have started to bend in a corner of the door. They twist it and push it in further. She finally gets the grate open. "Let's go!" She crawls out and sticks and arm out. Xander grabs on and crawls up into a ventilation duct.

A vampire starts to struggle through the bent corner of the door. He reaches in and pulls the latch open as Xander gets through the grate. Buffy follows him quickly as the first vampire enters the chamber. He follows them through the grate into the duct. The three teens quickly make their way through the duct. Trinity finds a ladder up to a manhole and starts climbing the rungs. Xander and Buffy follow. The vampire is right behind them. Trinity pushes open the manhole cover and climbs out into daylight. She turns to help Xander out. As they're helping Buffy out, the vampire grabs her ankle and tries to pull her back down.

"Pull!" She says. They pull on her and the vampire's hand is exposed to the sunlight and burns. The vampire lets go, and they tumble backward to the ground.

 

"She escaped?" The Master yells. "She walks free when I should be drinking her heart's blood right now? Careless..."

"Master, we had her trapped!" A vampire says.

"Oh, are you going to make excuses?" The vampire remains silent. "You are all weak. It has been too long since you have faced the Slayer. Huh. It is no matter to me. She will not stop the Harvest. Just means there'll be someone worth killing...when I reach the surface. Is Luke ready?"

"He waits."

"It's time. Bring him to me." The vampire turns to go get look. "Ah, Colin..." Colin turns back. "You failed me. Tell me you're sorry."

He bows his head. "I'm sorry."

"There. That wasn't so bad, was it? Hold on..." He stabs his finger into Colin's face. "You've got something in your eye."

 

Giles is still doing his research when he hears someone come in. "Buffy?" He looks up, only to see Willow.

"It's just me." She says. "So there's no word?"

"Ah, not as yet, no."

"Well, I-I'm sure they're... great."

"Did you find anything of interest?"

"I think, maybe... I surfed through the old newspapers around the time of that big earthquake back in '37? And for several months before there were a rash of murders." She hands him her printouts.

"Great! I-I mean, well, not, not 'great' in a good way, uh, um, uh, go on?"

"Well, they sound like the kind you were looking for." She flips through the pages. "Throats, blood..." She squirms uncomfortably.

"It's all coming together. I rather wish it weren't."

 

Luke approaches the Master and kneels before him. The Master offers his hand. Luke takes it and kisses it. He releases it and the Master turns it over to offer the underside of his wrist. Darla is watching and smiles. Luke opens the cuff of the Master's sleeve and pulls it back. He takes his hand again, sinks his fangs into the wrist above it and drinks of the blood. He releases the hand, and the Master takes it back.

"My blood is your blood. My soul is your soul." The Master says.

Luke bows his head. "My body is your instrument."

The Master steps down to Luke and begins to draw a three-pointed star on Luke's forehead with the blood still flowing from his wrist. "On this... most hallowed night... we are as one. Luke is the Vessel!" He says. Darla's smile widens.

"Every soul he takes will feed me. And their souls will grant me the strength to free myself. Tonight I shall walk the Earth, and the stars themselves will hide!"

 

Willow is looking at one of Giles' volumes. She hears the door open and looks up to see Xander, Trinity, and Buffy come in. "Did you find Jesse?" She asks.

"Yeah." Trinity says, a grim look on her face.

Willows face falls. "Was he dead?"

"Worse." Buffy sits at the end of the table. "I'm sorry, Willow. We were too late. And they were waiting for us."

"At least three are okay."

Xander violently kicks a waste basket, making Buffy jump in shock. "I don't like vampires. I'm gonna take a stand and say they're not good." He says.

Buffy turns to Giles. "So, Giles! Got anything that can make this day any worse?"

He goes over to the whiteboard and puts down his pen. "How about the end of the world?"

She nods. "Knew I could count on you."

"This is what we know. Some sixty years ago, a very old, very powerful vampire came to this shore, not just to feed."

"He came 'cause this town's a mystical who's it."

"Yes. The Spanish who first settled here called it 'Boca del Inferno'. Roughly translated, 'Hellmouth'. It's a sort of, um, portal between this reality and the next. This vampire hopes to open it."

"Bring the demons back." Trinity says.

Xander nods. "End of the world."

"But he blew it!" Willow speaks. "Or, I mean, there was an earthquake that swallowed half the town, and him, too."

"You see, opening dimensional portals is a tricky business. Odds are he got himself stuck, rather like a, uh, cork in a bottle." Giles explains.

"And this Harvest thing is to get him out." Trinity concludes.

Giles nods. "It comes once in a century, on this night. The Master can draw power from one of his minions while it feeds. Enough power to break free and open the portal. The minion is called the Vessel, and he bears this symbol." He draws a three-pointed star on the whiteboard.

"So, I dust anyone sporting that symbol, and no Harvest." Buffy says.

"Simply put, yes."

"Any idea where this little get-together is being held?"

"There, there are a number of possibilities."

"They're goin' to the Bronze." Xander says.

Willow looks at him. "Are you sure?"

"Come on. All those tasty young morsels all over the place? Anyway, that's where Jesse's gonna be, trust me."

Giles grabs his coat and starts out of the library. The others begin to follow. "Then we should get there. The sun will be down before long."

"I gotta make a stop. Won't take long." Buffy says.

Giles looks at her. "What for?"

"Supplies."

 

It is close to sunset. Buffy is in her room. She goes to her closet and pulls out a heavy, black jacket.

Her mother walks into the room. "Buffy?"

She turns around. "Mom!"

"You're going out?"

"I have to." She puts on her jacket.

"I didn't hear you come in last night."

"I was really quiet."

"It's happening again, isn't it? I got a call from your new principal. Says you missed some classes today?"

"I was running an errand."

Joyce sighs. "We haven't finished unpacking, and I'm getting calls from the principal."

"Mom, I promise, it is  _not_  gonna be like before. But I  _have_  to go."

"No."

"Mom?!"

"The tapes all say I should get used to saying it. No."

"This is  _really_ , really important."

"I know. If you don't go out it'll be the end of the world. Everything is life or death when you're a sixteen-year-old girl."

"Look, I don't have time to talk about this..."

"Buffy, you've got all the time in the world, you're not going anywhere. Now, if you wanna stay up here and sulk, I won't hold it against you. But if you wanna come down, I'll make us some dinner."

She leaves the room, pulling the door closed behind her. Buffy can't believe what just happened. She leans against the closet door, takes a deep breath and exhales. Then she turns and opens the closet again and pulls out a large chest. It has a flat box in it full of her stuff. She lifts out the box to reveal what's underneath. Stakes, crosses, garlic, bottles of holy water. She pulls a bunch out and puts it in her sports bag. She takes a particularly sharp stake and conceals it in her jacket sleeve. She closes the chest, zips the bag closed and goes over to her door to make sure her mother isn't nearby. Then she grabs the bag, slides it out of the window onto the roof and climbs out after it.

 

The sun goes down.

 

At the Bronze, the doorman is checking ID's.

Inside, Cordelia and her friends find a table. "Senior boys are the only way to go. Guys from our grade, forget about it, they're children. Y'know?" She says as they sit. "Like Jesse. Did you see him last night, following me around like a little puppy dog." They all giggle. "You just wanna put him to sleep. But senior boys, hmm, they have mystery. They have...what's the word I'm searching for? Cars! I just am not the type to settle. Y'know? It's like when I go shopping. I have to have the most expensive thing. Not because it's expensive, but because it costs more."

"You know, I-" One of the girls tries to speak but Cordelia interrupts her.

"Hello, Miss Motormouth, can I get a sentence finished? Oh, I love this song! Come on!" Cordelia and her gang make their way to the dance floor and start to move to the sound of the music.

_You fight the good fight_

_You fight the good war_

_You fight to be right_

_You fight to restore_

_Why should I believe a word that you say_

_It was just a game that you don't wanna play_

_And I say_

_It's wearing me down, I realize_

_It's all in my head now, now, and I realize_

_It's not what you've done_

_As much as what you've said_

_As what you've said_

_As what you've said_

_As what you've said_

Jesse watches Cordelia from the side. He walks onto the dance floor. The song is over, and Cordelia stops dancing. She starts to leave, but Jesse is standing in front of her, fingers on his lips.

She rolls her eyes. "Uh, what do you want?" Another song starts. Jesse lowers his hand, takes hers and leads her back onto the dance floor. "Hey! Hello! Caveman brain! What are you doing?"

"Shut up." He begins to dance with her.

Cordelia looks at him. "Well, just one dance." They dance close.

 

Outside, the doorman is counting money.

Darla comes out of the shadows in a bouncy walk. She turns around and walks backward while other vampires come into the light behind her. She turns back again and approaches the doorman. They're all sporting their game faces.

_How are you feelin'?_

_Do you feel okay?_

_'Cause I don't!_

The vampires head in.

"Need ID." The doorman looks up. "Hey! Nobody gets inside until I get some sorta-"

Luke growls in the doorman's face. "Get inside." The vampires come in, pushing the doorman in with them. The last one shuts the door and stands guard.

_How are you feelin'?_

_Do you feel okay?_

_'Cause I don't!_

One of the vampires makes his way to the upper level. Another one finds the main power switch and shuts it off. The people start complaining and wondering what happened.

Luke steps onto the stage. "Ladies and Gentlemen! There is no cause for alarm. Actually, there is cause for alarm. It just won't do any good." There are screams from the crowd as they see Luke's face. He laughs.

"I thought there wasn't any band tonight." Cordelia says. She looks at Jesse next to her. He's got his game face on, and she gasps in fright.

"This is a glorious night! It is also the last one any of you shall ever see. Bring me the first." Luke orders. A vampire brings the doorman to him.

"What do you guys want, man, huh? You want money?" The doorman asks and looks closer at them. "Man, what's wrong with your faces?"

Luke grabs him by the throat. He wraps his other arm around the doorman's head. "Watch me, people. Fear is like an elixir. It's almost like blood." He bites the doorman and feeds on him. The doorman screams.

 

The Master raises his head as he feels the first of the souls that will be taken for him.

 

Luke drops the doorman's body. "Next!"

 

Outside, the Scooby Gang arrives.

Buffy tries the door. "It's locked!"

"We're too late!" Giles says.

"Well I didn't know I was gonna get grounded!"

"Can you break it down?" Trinity asks.

Buffy shakes her head. "No, not that thing. Um...you guys try the back entrance, and I'll find my own way."

Giles nods. "Right. Come on." They start to leave but Buffy calls them.

"Um, wait! Guys! Here!" She hands Willow her bag. "You get the exit cleared and the people out. That's all! Don't go Wild Bunch on me."

"Uh, see you inside, then." Trinity says before they run around to the back.

Willow tries the door. It's locked, as well. "No joy!"

"We've gotta get in there before Jesse does something stupider than usual." Xander says.

Giles looks at him. "You listen to me! Jesse is dead! You have to remember that when you see him, you're not looking at your friend. You're looking at the thing that killed him."

 

The Master is testing his confines.

 

Luke feeds on a girl.

 

"Almost free!" The Master says.

 

Luke continues to feed on the girl.

 

"Give me moooooore!" The Master yells.

 

Luke, finished with the girl, drops her body.

Darla tries to take Cordelia but Jesse keeps a hold on her. "This one's mine!"

"They're all for the Master." She pulls on Cordelia.

Jesse lets go of her. "I don't get one?"

 

Buffy breaks an upper window and crawls in. She sees Luke on the stage.

"I feel the Master's strength growing!" Luke says. "I feel him rising. Every soul brings him closer! I need another!"

"The Vessel." She whispers to herself. The vampire on the upper level sees Buffy and growls. She looks over at him.

"Tonight is his ascension. Tonight will be history at its end! Yours is a glorious sacrifice! Degradation most holy." Luke continues. No one in the crowd moves. "What? No volunteers?!"

Darla brings him Cordelia. "Here's a pretty one."

Cordelia screams when she sees Luke up close. He caresses her face. He's about to bite her when Buffy kicks the vampire down from above them. Luke watches him land with a thud.

Buffy approaches the railing. "Oh, I'm sorry, were you in the middle of something?"

He glares at her. "You!"

"You didn't think I'd miss this. Did you?"

"I hoped you'd come."

"Be right down." She steps away from the railing and executes a round off to get down. She lands on a pool table. A vampire attacks from her right. Buffy does a front walkover off of the table, grabbing a pool cue on the way. When she lands she thrusts it into her attacker and lets go. He begins to fall and burst into ashes. "Okay, Vessel boy." She takes off her jacket. "You want blood?"

"I want yours!" He releases Cordelia. " _Only_  yours!"

Buffy shrugs. "Works for me." She runs and cartwheels up onto the stage, and immediately launches into a full spinning hook kick. Luke staggers into a pile of chairs.

Buffy assumes a fighting position. Luke gets up and growls. He comes at her and swings, but she ducks the punch and comes up behind him. He tries a backhand punch, but she blocks him, holds onto his arm and gives him three roundhouse kicks to his stomach before he shakes loose. She takes her stake and lunges at him. He blocks the lunge, knocking the stake from her grip. He lifts her up and throws her into a pile of boxes.

 

At the back of the Bronze, Giles, Willow, Trinity, and Xander break in.

"Hurry!" Giles quietly calls to the people, urging them out the door.

Xander runs in to see what's going on. He sees Buffy is down. She gets up, so Xander turns his attention to the crowd. "C'mon! Let's go! C'mon! C'mon! C'mon! C'mon!" He orders in a low voice.

"Hurry up! Come on! Through this door! Come on! This way!" Trinity says quietly.

Buffy spins around and lands a backhand punch on Luke's face, knocking him into another pile of stuff. He's dazed. Buffy turns to see a vampire grab Xander. She grabs a cymbal from a drum set and throws it at the vampire like a Frisbee. Xander sees it coming and ducks. The cymbal decapitates the vampire.

"Head's up!" He says.

Buffy can't resist a chuckle. Luke grabs her from behind.

 

Cordelia is on the floor with Jesse above her. She struggles and he grabs her arms. "Hold still! You're not making this easy!" He says.

Xander comes up behind him, stake in hand. "Jesse, man! Don't make me do it."

Jesse turns to look up at Xander. "Buddy!"

 

Luke tightens his grip on Buffy. "I always wanted to kill a Slayer!"

 

Giles, Willow, and Trinity are still guiding people out. "One at a time! Quickly! Quickly!" He crosses to the other side of the room in front of some stairs. Darla is standing on the steps above him. "We're going to have to open the front as well!" Darla leaps onto him from behind, knocking him to the floor.

 

"Jesse! I know there's still a part of you in there." Xander pleads.

Jesse jumps up. "Okay. Let's deal with this. Jesse was an excruciating loser who couldn't get a date with anyone in the sighted community! Look at me. I'm a new man!"

 

"Master! Taste of this... and be free!" Luke growls and moves in to bite Buffy. She senses his proximity and snaps her head back to land a head-butt on his face, knocking him off of her and back to the wall.

She turns to him, winded. "How'd it taste?"

 

Giles and Darla struggle on the floor.

Trinity approaches them while taking out a jar of holy water. "Get off of him!" She says. Darla is distracted and looks up. Trinity throws the holy water at her. It burns her face and steams. She gets up and runs from the club, screaming.

 

Jesse grabs Xander by the jacket and lifts him around against a wall. Xander has the stake pointed at Jesse's chest.

"Ooh! Alright. Put me out of my misery. You don't have the guts." Jesse taunts. A fleeing patron bumps into Jesse, impaling him on the stake. Xander lets go of the stake, and Jesse begins to fall. He turns to ashes before he even hits the floor. Two vampires grab Xander.

 

Buffy grabs a microphone stand and holds it like a javelin.

"You forget, metal can't hurt me." Luke smirks.

"There's something you forgot about, too. Sunrise!" She throws the stand at the window behind Luke. He ducks, and it breaks the window behind him. A bright light pours in through it. Buffy spies the stake she dropped on the stage and picks it up. Luke gets up and shields his face with his hands, expecting to be burned. He stops when he realizes it's only a bright lamp. Buffy lunges at him from behind and jams the stake home. "It's in about nine hours, moron!"

Luke begins to stagger off of the stage.

 

The Master still tests the strength of his confines.

 

Luke falls from the stage and explodes into ash.

 

The Master feels Luke's death and falls to his knees. "Noooooooo! Noooooooo!" He yells.

 

Buffy stares at Luke's ashes. She lifts her gaze and makes eye contact with the vampires holding Xander. The vampires panic and run.

 

Outside, the vampires run past Angel standing behind some crates stacked against a wall.

He watches them run, then looks back the other way. "She did it! I'll be damned." He walks away.

 

Buffy hops down to the floor. Giles, Trinity, and Willow meet her.

"I take it it's over." He says.

"Did we win?" Willow asks.

"Well, we averted the Apocalypse. I give us points for that." Buffy says.

Xander walks up. "One thing's for sure; nothing's ever gonna be the same."

Trinity looks at him. "Did you really have to say that? At least before we had our hopes, but now you just ruined it for everyone."

 

At Sunnydale High the next Morning, everything appears normal. Buffy walks along and overhears Cordelia talking to a friend.

"Well, I heard it was rival gangs. You know, fighting for turf? But all I can tell you is they were an ugly way of looking. And Buffy, like, knew them! Which is just too weird. I mean, I don't even remember that much, but I'm telling you, it was a freak show!"

"Oh, I wish I'd been there!" A girl says.

"You should have been there. It was so creepy." She and her friend walk off.

Buffy walks up to Xander and Trinity. "What exactly were you expecting?" She asks them.

"I don't know, something. I mean, the dead rose. We should at least have an assembly." He says. Trinity nods.

They run into Giles and Willow, and the five of them continue to walk. "People have a tendency to rationalize what they can and forget what they can't." Giles explains.

Buffy nods. "Believe me, I've seen it happen."

"Well, I'll never forget it, none of it." Willow says.

"Good! Next time you'll be prepared." Giles tells her.

"Next time?" Trinity asks.

"Next time is why?" Willow questions.

"We've prevented the Master from freeing himself and opening the Mouth of Hell. That's not to say he's going to stop trying. I'd say the fun is just beginning." He tells them.

"More vampires?" They stop walking.

"Not just vampires. The next threat we face may be something quite different."

Buffy smiles. "I can hardly wait!"

"We're at the center of a mystical convergence here. We may, in fact, stand between the Earth and its total destruction." Giles says in a serious tone.

Buffy shrugs. "Well, I gotta look on the bright side. Maybe I can still get kicked out of school!" The four students continue to class. Giles stays behind and watches them go.

"Oh, yeah, that's a plan. 'Cause lots of schools aren't on Hellmouths." Xander says.

"Maybe you could blow something up. They're really strict about that." Willow says.

"Just prank the principal's office." Trinity says. "That's a quick way to expulsion."

"I was thinking of a more subtle approach, y'know, like excessive not studying." Buffy says.

Giles turns to go back to his library. "The Earth is doomed."


	3. The Witch

In the school library, Giles is upset. "This is madness! What can you have been thinking? You are the Slayer! Lives depend upon you!" He begins pacing. "I make allowances for your youth, but I expect a certain amount of responsibility, and instead of which you enslave yourself to this, this..." He stops pacing. "Cult?"

Buffy stands in her cheerleading uniform. "You don't like the color?"

"I'd..." He sighs in exasperation. "Do you, um..." He sets a pile of books onto a cart. "Do you ignore everything I say as a, as a rule?"

"No, I believe that's your trick." Buffy says. Giles pushes the cart to the counter when she skips in front of him and poses. "I told you, I'm trying out for the cheerleading squad!"

"You have a sacred birthright, Buffy. You were chosen to destroy vampires, not to...wave pompoms at people. And as the Watcher I forbid it." He walks back to the table.

"And you'll be stopping me how?"

"Well, I..." He sits on the edge of the table and crosses his arms. "By appealing to your common sense, if such a creature exists."

"I will still have time to fight the forces of evil, okay? I just wanna have a life, I wanna do something normal. Something safe."

 

Flowers and herbs hang up side down from the rafters to dry and personal items with identification tags. The witch moves around in the darkness. She waves a pendant on a chain over the brew, and then pulls it back. She goes over to a rack and yanks off a doll hanging there by its neck on a wire.

 

In the gym, cheerleader tryouts are about to start. Girls are stretching and practicing, doing back handsprings, cartwheels and walking handstands. One girl does a round off followed by a back handspring.

Buffy, Willow, Trinity, and Xander come through the door.

"Giles didn't approve, huh?" Trinity says.

Buffy shakes her head. "He totally lost his water. We haven't seen a vampire in over a week. I'd say he should get a girlfriend if he wasn't so old."

"Well, we're behind you." Willow tells her.

"People scoff at things like school spirit, but look at these girls giving their all like this!" Xander says. He notices a girl doing the splits between two chairs. "Ooh, stretchy! Where was I?"

"You were pretending that seeing scantily clad girls in revealing postures was a spiritual experience." Willow teases.

"Who said I was pretending?" He turns to Buffy. "Oh, hey! Here's a good luck thing for tryouts." He pulls a bracelet from his pocket and hands it to her.

"What's this?" She asks.

"What's that?" Willow asks, a hint of worry in her voice.

Buffy looks at the bracelet. "Oh, how sweet!" She reads the inscription. "Your's Always."

"I-i-it came that way, really, they all said that!" He tells her, not noticing Willow breathe a sigh of relief.

Cordelia walks up to them and looks at the girl stretching. "Just look at that Amber. Who does she think she is, a Laker Girl?"

"I heard she turned them down." Trinity says.

Joy, the cheerleading squad leader, steps up with her clipboard and calls for everyone's attention. "Okay, listen up! Let's begin with..." She checks her clipboard. "Amber Grove. If you're not auditioning, move off the floor."

Willow looks around the room and her eyes light up. "Amy! Hi!"

The girl walks over. "Hi."

"I didn't know you wanted to be a cheerleader! You lost a lot of weight."

"Had to."

"Do you know Buffy?" Willow introduces.

Amy looks at the girl. "Hi."

"Hi." Buffy smiles.

Amy turns back to the try-outs. "Oh, how I hate this, let me count the ways." She says. Amber begins her routine. It's very athletic. She starts off with a needle-split lift followed by a double spin and a jumping double spin. After landing, Amber launches herself into an aerial and a cartwheel. Jazz slides are then followed by a single spin. Everyone in the gym is intent on watching her. "She trained with Benson. He's one of the best coaches money can buy."

"They have cheerleading coaches?" Buffy asks.

Amy nods. "Oh, yeah! Don't you have? I train with my mom, three hours in the morning, three at night."

"Hmm, that much quality time with my mom would probably lead to some quality matricide." She jokes.

"Oh, I know it's hokey. But she's really great."

Cordelia turns her back to Amber with a look of contempt on her face. "Hmm!"

Buffy, Trinity, and Xander watch Amber in amazement. Amy and Willow are impressed, too. Amber's hands begin to smoke.

"What the...?" Trinity trails off.

"That girl's on fire!" Willow shouts.

Cordelia, still facing away, rolls her eyes. "Enough of the hyperbole!"

Amber's hands catch fire. She drops her pompoms and screams. Buffy reacts. Amber flails her hands in the air. Buffy jumps up onto the stands and pulls down a banner. She runs back to Amber, knocks her down and snuffs out the flames with the banner. Everyone stares in shock.

Buffy tries to comfort Amber. "It's okay, it's okay, you're gonna be...okay." She looks at the girl. "God!" She says to herself.

 

In the library, Willow, Trinity, and Xander sit at a table while Buffy paces.

"I've been slaying vampires for more than a year now, and I have seen some pretty cringe worthy things, but...nobody's hands ever got toasted before." Buffy says.

Giles comes out of the cage. "I imagine not."

"So, this isn't a vampire problem."

"No."

She turns to Giles. "But it is funky, right? Not of the norm?"

"Quite. Spontaneous human combustion is, is rare, and, and scientifically unexplainable, but there have been cases for hundreds of years. Usually all that's left is a pile of ashes."

"That's all that would have been left if it hadn't been for Buffy." Willow says.

"So, we have no idea what caused this." Trinity adds

"That's a comfort." Xander says, sarcastically.

"But that's the thrill of living on the Hellmouth!" Giles says and sits on the edge of the table. "There's a veritable cornucopia of, of fiends and devils and, and ghouls to engage." Everyone looks at him. "Pardon me for finding the glass half full."

"Any common denominators in cases of spontaneous combustion?" Buffy asks.

"Uh, rage. In most cases the person who combusted was, was terribly angry or, or upset."

"So maybe Amber's got this power to make herself be on fire." Trinity guesses.

"It's like the human torch, only it hurts." Xander adds.

"I need to get the skinny on Amber. Find out if she's had any colorful episodes before." Buffy says as she starts to leave.

"That means hacking illegally into the school's computer system. At last, something  _I_ can do!" Willow says.

They go over to Buffy. "We'll ask around about her." Trinity says.

Buffy looks at them. "You guys don't have to get involved."

"What'd ya mean? We're a team! Aren't we a team?" Xander asks.

Willow smiles. "Yeah! You're the Slayer, and we're, like, the Slayerettes!"

"I just don't like putting you guys in danger." Buffy tells them.

"Oh, huh, I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away." Xander jokes.

"Okay, just walk softly, at least until we know a little more. I mean, what if Amber isn't causing these problems herself?"

"Well, then we have to determine who or what did, and, uh, deal with it accordingly." Giles says.

 

At home, Buffy walks into the kitchen. She sees several wooden crates and Joyce trying to pry one open with a crowbar. "Hey!" She greets.

Joyce looks up. "Hi, how was school?"

"Mm, a reverent joy. What's all this?"

"It's for the tribal art display."

"Cool!" She looks at one of the pieces. "We had tryouts today."

"Oh, great! How'd it go?" She sighs, struggling to get the crate open.

"I didn't actually get to try out. There was an accident. Pretty fierce competition, though."

"Oh, I know you'll do fine. Keep on pluggin', just have to get back on the horse." She says, her attention still on the crate.

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"What was I trying out for?"

"Oh, uh..." She stops prying at the crate and looks at Buffy. "Some activity? I have no idea, I'm sorry."

"That's okay. Your platitudes are good for all occasions."

She sighs. "I'm distracted." She starts prying again. "Got a lotta inventory to go through here. This is my Gallery's first major show." She releases a tired sigh and gives up. "You know, it might not physically kill you to give me a hand here." She goes to check her clipboard.

Buffy grabs the lid of the crate and effortlessly tears it off. "It was cheerleading."

"Oh good! I'm glad you're taking that up again, it'll keep you out of trouble."

"I'm not  _in_ trouble."

"No, not yet." She says absentmindedly. She realizes what she said and looks up to see Buffy's hurt face. "I mean, you stopped cheerleading just before the trouble, so it's good you're going back." She goes back to the crate and partially lifts out a statue. "Oh, dear."

"What?"

"The fertility statue, you don't need to see it." She sets it down and puts the lid back on.

"Y'know, there's this girl, Amy, and, um, she trains with her mom, like, three hours a day."

"Uh-huh."

"Sounds like her mom's pretty into it."

"Sounds like her mom doesn't have a lot to do." She walks out of the kitchen with a piece of art.

Buffy lifts the crate's lid a little bit and looks in. "Jeepers!"

 

The next day, try-outs have resumed. Joy paces back and forth. "Despite the terrible thing that happened yesterday we still have to pick new cheerleaders. If you make the team you'll find your names posted in the quad after lunch. Let's begin with group performance."

Amy leans towards Buffy. "Why do my hands have to sweat when I get nervous?" She whispers.

"Don't worry. You'll do great."

"Five, six, seven, eight!" Joy calls loudly, counting off the cheer.

"Sunnydale! Sunnydale! We never fail! We never fail! Jump and Shoot! Swish and score! The other team is such a bore! Yeah!" The girls cheer. Amy blows the cartwheel and crashes into Cordelia.

Cordelia yelps as she falls and then quickly gets up. "You saw that, right? That wasn't me! You saw that, right?" She looks at Amy and back again. "Right?"

 

In the hallway, Amy is admiring the trophies in the case with a longing look. Buffy comes up next to her. Amy notices her and smiles, pointing to a picture in the case. "That's my mom!"

"No!" Buffy smiles and reads the inscription. "Catherine Madison. Get down with your bad self!"

Amy nods. "Her nickname was 'Catherine the Great'. She took that team and made them tri-county champions. Y'know, no one's ever done that before, or since. She and my dad were Homecoming King and Queen. They got married right after graduation."

"That's kinda romantic."

"Well, he was a big loser. Never made any money. Ran off with 'Miss Trailer Trash when I was twelve." She continues.

"Okay, that part's less romantic. My folks split up, too."

"Drag, huh? Uh, he left my mom with nothing. She put herself through cosmetology school." She says with a smile. "Bought me everything I ever wanted." She shakes her head. "And never once gained a single pound."

Buffy turns to face Amy. "Uh, she sounds really great, Amy, but, um...it doesn't mean that you need to lock step as far as this cheerleading thing."

"She was the best! And I can't get my body to  _move_ like hers! I choked in there so bad!"

"No, Amy, you did fine."

"I'm gonna get changed." She walks away with a dejected look on her face.

"Wait! No..."

Willow passes by the girl. "Hey, Amy!" She greets before walking over to Buffy. "Is she okay?"

"No, she's, she's wiggin' about her mom, big cheer queen back when."

"Yeah, her mom's kinda..."

"Nazi like?"

"Heil. If she gains an ounce she padlocks the fridge and won't eat anything but broth."

"So, mommy dearest is really...'Mommy Dearest?'"

"There's a bitter streak. But Amy's nice. We used to hang in Junior High. When her mom would go on a broth kick, Amy would come over to my house and we'd stuff ourselves with brownies!" They start walking down the hall.

"Hey, any word on Amber?"

"Nothing thrilling. Average student. Got detention once, for smoking. Regular smoking...with a cigarette, not, like, being smoky."

"Hmm."

"All pretty normal."

"So we just have to wait and we'll see what happens. Maybe nothing will."

 

Amy stands alone in the girl's locker room. She hears a noise and turns to look, but sees nothing. She hears the drips of the showers. Amy closes her locker and turns to leave but jumps back at the sight of Cordelia.

"I have a dream. It's me on the cheerleading squad, adored by every varsity male as far as the eye can see! We have to achieve our dreams, Amy. Otherwise we...wither and die!" Cordelia glares at her.

"Look, I'm sorry about-" Amy starts but Cordelia interrupts her.

"Shhh! If your supreme klutziness out there today takes me out of the running, you're gonna be so  _very_  beyond sorry!" She smiles. "Have a nice day." She turns and leaves, throwing her scrunchie into an open locker and slams the door as she rounds the corner.

Amy leans against her locker, shaken.

 

Willow, Trinity, and Xander walk the halls outside. "I told Buffy about Amber." Willow says.

"Cool! Was she wearin' it? The bracelet, she was wearin' it, right?" Xander asks eagerly. "Pretty much like we're goin' out."

"Except without the hugging or kissing or her knowing about it." Trinity says.

"So I'm just a figure of fun." He sighs. "I should ask her out, right?"

"You won't know till you ask." Willow tells him.

"That's why you're so cool! You're like a guy! You're my guy friend that knows about girl stuff!"

"Oh, great. I'm a guy."

"Oh, hey, they're posting the list!" He runs off to check the list of names for the cheerleading squad.

Trinity shakes her head and squeezes Willow's shoulder. "You should really take your own advice."

 

A crowd forms in front of the bulletin board. Buffy and Amy are in the back. They see a girl rush away in tears, devastated that she did not make the cut.

"I can't take this." Amy says.

Joy steps away from posting the list on the bulletin board. A girl reads her name on the list. "Yes!"

Xander comes up behind Buffy and Amy. "Cover me, I'm goin' in." He pushes his way through the crowd and looks at the list.

Cordelia comes out of the crowd and looks at Amy. "You're lucky."

"I made it?" Amy asks, a hopeful look on her face.

" _I_ made it."

Xander comes back out of the crowd and gets hit on the way. "One of those girls hit me really hard! You should test for steroids. Okay, not only did you make the team, but you, Miss Summers, are the first alternate, and Amy's number three." He tells them. Amy looks at Buffy, disappointed and leaves. "And what a better way to celebrate than with a romantic drive through-"

"Xander, alternates are the ones who didn't make the team." Trinity says.

Willow nods. "They only fill in if something happens to the ones who did."

"Excuse me." Buffy says and jogs towards her friend.

Xander sighs, downtrodden. "For I am Xander, King of Cretins. May all lesser cretins bow before me."

 

Buffy catches up with Amy. "At least it's over. And you know what I think we should do about it? Brownie pig-out, my house, after school."

Amy sighs. "It's just how many more hours a day can I practice? Y'know, how much more can I do? This would never happen to my mother. Never." She walks off. Buffy stares after her.

 

Inside an attic, personally items from cheerleaders are lined up on a rack.

Amy stirs a cauldron."Give me the power. Give me the dark." She takes a doll from the rack. "I call on you, the laughing gods." She snatches another doll. "Let your blackness crawl beneath my skin." She wraps Cordelia's scrunchie around the doll's head. "Accept thy sacrifice...of Cordelia. Feed on her." She drops the doll into the brew.

 

In the Summers kitchen, the toaster pops up and Buffy pulls out a freshly toasted half of a bagel. She takes it to the island in the middle of the kitchen for more preparation.

Her mother comes in. "Look what I found. It's my yearbook from junior year." She flips to a page. "Oh, look! There I am." She puts the book down on the island and goes to get a cup of coffee.

Buffy looks at the picture. "Mom, I've accepted that you've had sex. I am not ready to know that you had Farrah hair."

"This is Gidget hair. Don't they teach you anything in history?"

"Well, it's really cool, but I gotta book."

"Well, I was thinking. I know the cheerleading thing didn't work out...maybe you should think about joining the yearbook staff. I did, it was a lot of fun."

"Not really my tip, mom." She opens the refrigerator.

"I was, uh, photo editor. I got to be on every page, made me look much more popular than I was."

"And have you seen the kids that do yearbook?  _Nerds_  pick on them." She goes to her bag.

"Some of the best times I had in school were working on the yearbook!" Joyce says, an insulted look on her face.

Buffy turns to her. "Oh, this just in; I'm not you! I'm into my own thing."

"Your own thing, whatever it is, got you kicked out of school, and we had to move here to find a decent school that would take you!" She says. Buffy looks at her, hurt. She takes her bag and leaves. "Honey..." Joyce calls but she's too late. "Ugh!" She grunts. "Great parenting form! Little shaky on the dismount."

 

At school, Cordelia walks past Trinity, Willow, and Xander in a daze.

"Cordelia, you haven't been mean to me all day. Is it something I've done?" Xander calls but she continues past him unaware. He turns to the girls. "Okay, see how she has no clue that I'm even a mammal, much less a human being?"

Willow nods, taking the pen from her mouth. "I can see that."

"This is the invisible man syndrome. A blessing in Cordelia's case. A curse in Buffy's."

Willow closes her locker. "You're not invisible to Buffy." She chews on her pen some more as they start to walk down the hall.

"It's worse! I'm just like a part of the scenery, like an old shoe. Or a rug that you walk on every day but don't even really see it."

Trinity nods. "He's right."

Willow takes her pen out of her mouth. "Like a pen that's all chewed up, and you know you should throw it away, but you don't, not 'cause you like it so much, more 'cause you're just used to-" Xander interrupts her.

"Will, yeah, that is the point, you don't have to drive it through my head like a railroad spike. I'm gonna take your advice and not beat around the bush."

"Or I could be wrong! Maybe you should beat around the bush more."

"Nah, I gotta be a man and ask her out. Y'know, I gotta stop giving her ID bracelets, uh, subtle innuendoes, taking Polaroids outside of her bedroom window late at night, that last part is a joke to relieve the tension because here she comes." He sees Buffy come out of a classroom and walk towards them. "Okay, into battle I go." He quickly turns towards Trinity and grabs by the shoulders, startling her. "Would you ask her out for me?"

"I think she'd take it the wrong way if I do." She says.

Buffy sees Cordelia struggling to open her locker.

"No. Man." Xander lets go of Trinity's shoulders. "Me battle." He turns towards Buffy. "Buffy! Would you like to, uh..."

Buffy reaches the trio. "Is that even Cordelia's locker?" She asks. They see Cordelia give up and continue down the hall.

"Huh? Oh, I don't know. What I'm saying is accompany me Friday night-"

Buffy is still watching Cordelia. "Xander, I have to, um..." She faces him. "We can make this up later. You don't mind, do you?" She gives him her book and follows Cordelia. Xander whistles the sound of a bomb falling and exploding.

Willow looks at him and continues chewing on her pen. Trinity looks between her two friends and shakes her head.

 

Buffy goes outside and looks around for Cordelia. She sees her and starts to follow.

Mr. Pole; the Driver's Ed teacher, waits impatiently for Cordelia. He turns and sees her coming. "Nice of you to join us, Cordelia. We didn't keep you waiting or anything, did we? It's your turn to drive." He turns to the other students. "Okay, people, let's buckle up."

Cordelia walks around the front of the car. "I don't wanna drive today, Mr. Pole."

"You've flunked Driver's Ed twice already. Show me some moves, or you'll be taking the bus to college." He gets into the car. Cordelia gets in last. Buffy watches from behind a school bus. "Okay. Check the brake. Check the mirror. Start the engine." Cordelia turns the key and the engine starts, but she seems out of it. "Hello? Put the car in drive." Cordelia struggles with the shifting lever. "Let's move forward through the cones with a gentle even turn to the-" The car takes off backward, crashes into some signs and stops. Cordelia gets it in drive, and the car races forward, burning rubber. "Slow down. Slow, slow, turn right! Turn right!" Cordelia loses control as the car races along the course, knocking down cones and signs. Buffy begins running after them. "Brakes! Brakes!" The car crashes through a fence and bushes and careens out onto the street, where it comes to a sudden halt. Another car just manages to swerve around them. "Everybody out!"

They all get out. Cordelia is in a daze, and she walks into the middle of the street. A delivery van is coming the other way, but it doesn't slow down. Buffy comes running. Cordelia turns to see the van coming and screams. Buffy leaps over the Driver's Ed. car and grabs Cordelia, pulling her down and out of the way. The van takes out the open car door as Buffy and Cordelia roll to a stop.

"Oh my god. I...I can't see anything!" Cordelia says.

"It's, it's okay, it's..." She sees Cordelia's eyes. "Oh god!"

Her eyes no longer have irises and are completely white. "What's happening? I can't see anything!"

 

In the library, the Scooby's sit at a table.

"Witchcraft." Giles says. "Blinding your enemy to disorient and disable them is, it's classic!"

"First vampires, now witches. No wonder you can still afford a house in Sunnydale." Xander jokes.

"Why should someone want to harm Cordelia?"

"Maybe because they  _met_  her?" Trinity says.

"And setting Amber ablaze?"

Xander nods. "Yeah, those guys don't hang."

"They're both cheerleaders." Buffy realizes.

"Someone doesn't like cheerleading." Giles theorizes.

"Or likes it too much."

"Amy!" Willow figures.

"Amy."

"So, you guys are leaning towards Amy?" Xander asks.

Buffy nods. "She's desperate to get on that team, and I've got this feeling she'd do just about anything to make her mom's dream come true."

"Uh, let me make sure I have this right." Giles says. "This witch is casting horrible and disfiguring spells so that she can become a cheerleader?"

"I think you're underestimating the amount of pressure a parent can lay on you. If you're not a picture perfect carbon copy they tend to wig."

Trinity nods. "Cheerleading was kind of her mom's last hurrah. Which is kinda sad if the high point of your life is high school."

"Look, we still have to stop Amy." Xander says. "We should grab her and-"

Giles interrupts him. "I think we should be sure she's the witch before we arouse her suspicions. She's, she's capable of some fairly unpleasant things."

"Okay, alright." Buffy gets up. "So, you're in high school, you are desperate to make the team and please your mom, so you turn to witchcraft. What's the first thing you're gonna do?"

"Check out the books on witchcraft!" Willow says. She and Buffy go over to the computer to access the online library catalog.

Xander sits up. "Uh, no! No, that would be the  _last_ thing you would do! You don't wanna leave a paper trail. Forget that!"

"It'll just take a minute."

Xander gets up and stands behind them. "We don't have a minute! Cheerleaders are in danger. Buffy's in danger." He turns to Buffy. "You were the first alternate, you are on the team now that Cordelia's out. You could be next. We gotta get you to a safe house."

"Xander." Willow says.

"Yeah?"

She sighs and read the monitor. "'Witches: Historic Roots to Modern Practice.' Checked out by Alexander Harris."

Buffy reads as well. "'The Pagan Rites', checked out by Alexander-"

"Alright, alright, it's not what you think." He says.

"You like to look at the semi-nude engravings?" Trinity says.

"Oh, well, uh, I-I guess it  _is_ what you think."

"Have you all quite finished? We have to find a conclusive test." Giles says. "There may be something in here..." He flips through the pages of a book. "Yes, this should do it. You'll need some of her hair, a little quicksilver and some aqua fortis."

"Well, that's just mercury and nitric acid. You can get that in the science lab." Willow tells him.

He continues reading. "'Heat ingredients and apply to witch, and if a spell has been cast in the previous 48 hours, witch's skin turns blue.' Hmm." He shuts the book. "Oh, and you'll need some Eye of Newt."

 

In science class, Dr. Gregory is holding a frog up for the class to see. "Those of you in track one may begin your dissections...now." He indicates where the students should cut their frogs. Xander is trying to take his frog's eye out with tweezers. "Those of you in track two, take your hydrochloric acid and your ammonium hydroxide and carefully pour them into your beakers." He begins to pour. "Now slow, slow..."

Xander still struggles. "I can't." He says. Willow grabs the frog and takes out its eye.

"...capping one, I'm being safe. And you get..." Dr. Gregory continues.

Willow drops the eye into the beaker. "Eye of Newt!"

The ingredients in the beaker react and begin to bubble and smoke. "That." Dr. Gregory shows the class.

"How's Buffy doing with the hair?" Xander asks. They look towards Buffy and Trinity, who sit at another table.

Trinity runs a hand through her hair, and lightly breathes through her mouth.

Buffy looks at her. "Are you okay?"

"It's just all the chemicals." She says. "It messes with my senses. I'm going to open a window." She gets out of her seat.

A girl in front of them; Lishanne, turns around. "Isn't this exciting?!" She asks Buffy.

"Oh, yeah!" Buffy smiles. She gets up and walks to another table. "Amy, help me. Um, which is the hydrochloric acid and which is the, uh, ammonium hydroxide?"

"Well, the bottle that says 'hydrochloric acid' is usually the hydrochloric acid." She says.

"Read the bottles. Good concept!" She laughs nervously and drops her pencil. "Oops." She crouches down to pick up the pencil. She reaches into Amy's bag and pulls some hair off of her brush. She gets up and tries to pretend nothing happened. She glances at Amy to gauge her reaction. Amy smiles back weakly. She noticed but pretends she didn't. Buffy waves her pencil and smiles back. She heads back to her lab table with an expression of relief at having avoided a close call. She puts the hair on Willow's table as she walks by.

Willow picks up the hair and mixes it into the concoction. Amy looks back at them to see what they're doing. Willow and Xander look back nervously.

"Wave 'Hi' to the nice little witch." Xander says in a low voice, but Amy hears him and looks at them again.

Willow takes the beaker and pours some of the liquid into a test-tube. "All set." She hands the tube to Buffy. "Do you have a plan?"

"Spill it on her." She says. "Try to make it look natural."

"We're right behind you, only...further back." Xander says.

Buffy slowly makes her way over to Amy.

"Lishanne, can you tell me why these chemicals have this reaction?" Dr. Gregory asks. Buffy pours some of the mixture onto Amy's arm and feigns an accident, gasping. She sees the liquid turn blue on contact. "Lishanne?"

Amy doesn't notice the spill and looks at Lishanne. Buffy looks over as well and sees the girl shaking her head rapidly. Lishanne turns towards the class and everyone sees that she no longer has a mouth.

Buffy stares at her, shocked and looks to Amy who looks surprised as well.

Willow, Trinity, and Xander look on with wide eyes.

 

In the hallway, they discuss their findings.

"Did you see?" Xander asks. "Amy was as freaked out as the rest of us."

"So it's not her?" Willow asks.

"The test was positive." Buffy tells her. "She's our Sabrina. I just don't think she realizes what she's doing."

"Well, should we talk to her?"

"If she's doing this without knowing it, she must be a natural born witch." Trinity says. "We need to talk to her mother."

 

Amy strides through the gate to her house with determination. She goes through the door and looks for her mother. "Where are you?" She calls. Catherine quickly turns off the TV and gets up. Amy sees her. "Another productive day in front of the TV?" Catherine just stares at her. "I got a history report due tomorrow." Amy drops her bag. "Write it!" Catherine sighs. "I should be on that team by now. But instead Miss  _Buffy_ and friends are sneaking around stealing bits of my hair." Catherine shakes her head. Amy opens her hand, and out drops Buffy's bracelet. "I'll be upstairs."

Catherine watches her go.

 

The next morning, Buffy is still sleeping when suddenly the alarm clock goes off. She slaps it with too much strength and breaks it. "Oh! Oops! Oh..." She sits up. "Mm..."

 

In the kitchen, Joyce is making fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Buffy comes dancing in singing and wearing her cheerleader outfit. "Macho, macho, man!" Buffy sings. "I want to be a macho man. Macho-oh!, hey, juice!" She grabs the glass and drinks. "Mm...quality juice. Not from concentrate!"

Joyce looks at her. "You're in a good mood."

"I am! I'm on the squad, which is great, 'cause I feel like cheering and leading others to cheer. Ooh, hey, juice!" Buffy takes the second glass and drinks again.

"Listen, honey, about yesterday, I really-"

"Mm! That is totally yester. Besides, it's not like you were wrong, y'know. I did get kicked outta school. I'm just wacky that way!"

"Still, I just want you to know that, despite the problems you've had, I really-"

Buffy cuts her off. "Mom, you just don't get it. And, believe me, you don't want it. Y'know, there are just some things about being a Vampire Slayer that the older generation-"

"A what?" Joyce asks, confused.

"It's a...long story."

"Buffy, are you feeling well?"

"What? Oh, I'm, I'm fine, y'know? What, like, I can't be in a good mood? Is it, like, a new house rule? Fine, y'know? It's just fine, fine, fine, 'cause..." She begins to sing again. "I'm a macho, macho man! I want to be a macho man!" She bobs her head, leaving the kitchen. "Macho, macho man! I want to be a macho man!"

 

At cheerleading practice, Buffy is positioned next to Joy in the lineup.

"Five, six, seven, eight!" Joy calls. The cheerleaders begin practicing a routine.

"Turn up the music!" Buffy yells. The routine continues until Buffy accidentally stomps on Joy's foot.

Joy yelps. "Ow! Get it together Buffy! We have a game in less than four hours!"

Buffy sees Xander, Willow, and Trinity come in. She jumps gleefully. "Willow! Xander! Trinity! My buds are here! I love my buds! Hi!" She waves before noticing everyone's stares. "Hi...oh." She gets back in line, and the routine continues.

"Is it me, or is Buffy a bit looped?" Xander asks.

Willow and Trinity look on, worried. The cheerleaders continue with a series of assisted cartwheels. "We better get her outta there." Willow says.

Trinity nods. "Yeah, before she-" Buffy overthrows Joy's aerial, sending her crashing into the gym wall. "...hurts someone."

Joy gets up as Buffy comes running over. "Did I do that?" Buffy asks.

Joy pushes her. "You are  _so_ out of here!

Trinity and Xander run up and each grab a hold one of Buffy's arms.

"It's not her fault!" Willow says from behind them.

"She's on medication." Xander adds.

Buffy looks at him. "What?"

"Well, obviously not enough. Who's our next alternate?" Joy looks around and sees Amy behind her. "Oh. Amy, you just made cheerleader."

Buffy shakes her head. "No, no, no. You don't want her, she's a wi-"

Xander quickly puts his hand over Buffy's mouth. "A wise choice indeed!" He and Trinity pull Buffy away. Willow nods and cast a nervous smile towards Amy and joy before following. Amy stares after them.

 

Trinity and Xander support Buffy as they walk down the hallway.

"She's a witchy!" Buffy says.

"Buffy..." Willow trails off, looking at her.

"I just got kicked off the team, didn't I?"

"I don't think it was your fault." Xander says.

She looks at him, smiling. "Hmm, I know you don't, that's 'cause you're my friend. You're my Xander-shaped friend!" She leans her head on his shoulder. "Do you have any idea why I love you so, Xander?"

"We gotta to get her to a-" Trinity starts but Xander stop her with a gesture.

"Let her speak!" He says.

"I'll tell you!" Buffy continues. "You're not like other boys at all."

"Well..."

"You are totally, and completely one of the girls!" She looks at Willow. "I'm that comfy with him." She finishes, making the girl smile.

Xander deflates. "That's great."

"Any other guy who'd give me a bracelet, they'd...wanna date me, and be like a..." She begins to feel woozy. "Oh! I, I don't feel so good."

"Buffy?" Trinity asks but the girl collapses in their arms.

 

In the library, Buffy is lying back in a chair with a wet cloth on her forehead. Trinity supports her head and keeps the cloth in place with her hand.

"We've gotta get her to a hospital!" Willow says.

Giles shakes his head. "They can't help her. This is a bloodstone vengeance spell." He takes her pulse. "Hits the body hard like a, a quart of alcohol, and then it e-eradicates the, uh, immune system."

"A vengeance spell, like she's trying to get even with Buffy?" Xander asks.

"'Cause she knows I know she's a witch." Buffy groans.

"The others she just wanted out of the running. You she intends to, um..." Giles trails off.

"Kill?"

"How much time do we have?" Trinity asks.

"Oh, uh, I'm sure, uh..."

"Truth." Buffy says. "Please."

"Couple of hours." Giles says. "Three at most."

"Well, how do we reverse the spell?" Xander asks.

Giles stands up. "Well I, I've been researching that, and, uh, we can reverse all the spells if, um..." He takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. "We can just lay our hands on, on Amy's spell book."

"And if we can't get a hold of it?" Willow asks.

"Well, the other way is to cut the witch's head off." He puts his glasses back on.

"Show of hands!" Xander raises his hand.

Buffy shakes her head. "It's not Amy's fault. She only became a witch to survive her mother."

Xander looks at her. "Look, I don't care why, I just care that you go on breathing."

Trinity nods. "Yeah, I'm sure that you're the only slayer who doesn't want to kill me."

"Giles, where would she be casting these spells?" Buffy asks.

"Oh, she needs a, a sacred space. A-a-a pentagram, um, large pot."

Buffy nods. "Her home. Okay. Help me up." Trinity helps her stand. "We'll just go to her house and we'll get her book."

"Okay, we'll go with you." Willow says.

"Uh, no! You guys stay here and keep an eye on Amy."

"Then we'll split up." Trinity says. "I'll go with you and Giles while Willow and Xander stay here."

"Trinity-"

"If something happens you're not in the best shape to deal with that. I may not be the best fighter but I can help." She says, helping Buffy walk.

Giles looks at Willow and Xander. "Keep Amy away from the science lab. We'll need it to cast our counter-spells." He says before they leave.

Willow and Xander exchange worried looks.

 

Giles pulls up to Amy's house.

 

Catherine has a plate of brownies on her lap and takes a bite out of one. She looks up startled when she hears a knock on the door.

 

Trinity holds Buffy up.

 

Catherine slides the plate under the coffee table and gets up when the knocking continues. She opens the door. "Who are you? What, um, uh, is there something wrong?"

"Mrs. Madison, we need to talk to you about your daughter." Giles tells her.

"I'm not allow...you'll have to come back later." She tries to close the door, but Giles prevents her and pushes his way in.

"Excuse me!"

"What?!"

Trinity looks at Buffy. "You alright?" She walks into the house and sits Buffy on the couch.

Giles continues talking to Catherine. "Your daughter is meddling with something very dangerous, are you aware of that?"

"Uh, I don't know what you're talking about." Catherine says.

"Oh, I think you know only too well."

"You've got to go. She's gonna be home soon, and you-"

"This girl is very sick." Giles says angrily. "Now you will shut up and you will listen to me! Your daughter has access to some very powerful magic's, and somehow your obsession with cheerleading has made-"

"I don't care about cheerleading!" Catherine says incredulously. "It's not my fault she's doing stuff."

Trinity sniffs and sees the brownies under the table. "Buffy..." She says quietly. Buffy looks at the brownies and realizes who Catherine really is.

"As her mother you should assume some responsibility for her actions." Giles continues.

Catherine laughs. "Well, you know, these kids today! I..." She calms down. "She's out of her mind. Ever since dad, her dad...left, I can't control her."

"Help me up." Buffy says quietly. Trinity helps her stand.

"You're afraid of her?" Giles asks.

"Amy?" Buffy asks. Catherine looks at Buffy and realizes she's been found out. Giles looks at Buffy, still puzzled. "Are you Amy?"

Giles looks back at Catherine. "I don't understand."

"She switched." Trinity says.

"She switched your bodies, didn't she?" Buffy asks. Catherine looks down, defeated.

Giles looks at 'Catherine' in realization. "Good Lord!"

"She wanted to relive her glory days." Buffy says.

'Catherine' looks back up. "She said I was wasting my youth. So she took it."

 

They sit on the couch listening as a distraught 'Catherine' explains her story. "I didn't know anything about her powers. I mean, when dad was here they would fight and yell and he would...call her a witch and...I mean, I would, just thought he meant...oh god, when he left I wanted to go with him. But she wouldn't even let me call. She went crazy, I mean, she'd lock herself upstairs for days, and she was always coming down on me, telling me I didn't deserve to have it so easy, and that I didn't know...how hard it was to be her, and...I guess she showed me, huh?"

Buffy takes her hand. "Amy, it's gonna be okay."

"A few months ago, I woke up in h-her bed! I didn't know where I was, and...then I looked in the mirror."

"She locked herself upstairs?" Giles asks.

'Catherine' nods. "Yes."

"Where?"

 

Giles breaks in the attic door, and starts to look around.

'Catherine' comes in after him. "Don't! If she finds out I've been here she'll kill me!"

Giles walks around the cauldron to the rack with the hanging dolls. He sees the two dolls bound together for the body-switching spell and takes them in his hand. "My god." He breathes. "I believe we can reverse your mother's spell. Well, all of them, in fact." He lets go of the dolls.

"You could? Really, you could?"

"We need to find her books. There'd be specific volumes she'd need for this kind of casting." He begins to look around some more. He finds a trunk and knocks off the things on top. "Collect those dolls, and, uh, any other personal effects." As he starts to open the trunk, a black cat jumps at him and surprises him. "Ah! Nice kitty." He calms down. "Let's see what you were guarding." He opens the trunk. "Ah, yes!" He takes out a book. "This is it."

 

Downstairs; Buffy's head lolls a bit.

Trinity supports her. "You're going to be fine."

Giles and 'Catherine' come back into the living room.

"Did we find?" Buffy asks.

"We found. Come on." Giles says.

Trinity helps Buffy up. "She's getting weaker." She realizes that Buffy is to weak and picks her up in her arms.

'Catherine' looks at them. "But where are you going?"

"We're going to school." Giles looks at her. "And you're coming with us."

 

In the gym, the Sunnydale High basketball team comes through the doors and runs onto the court. 'Amy' cheers loudly with a smile on her face. Willow and Xander watch her.

 

Trinity carries Buffy into the science classroom and lays Buffy on a table, knocking everything off it in the process.

Giles take off his coat and looks at Buffy. "I'm gonna stop this. I promise." He says, folding his coat up and putting under her head.

"You just hang on." Trinity tells her. Buffy moans as her vision blurs.

Giles goes to the box of books and other things 'Catherine' has set on Dr. Gregory's bench and reaches in to get 'Amy's' spell book.

'Catherine' looks on, concerned. "How is she?"

"We only have a few minutes left." Giles says.

 

"Go, Sunnydale go! Go, Sunnydale go! Go! Six, seven, eight!" The cheerleaders yell. "Go Sunnydale go! Go, Sunnydale go! Go, Sunnydale go! Go! Six, seven, eight! Go Sunnydale go! Go, Sunnydale go! Go, Sunnydale go! Go! Six, seven, eight!

"Go Sunnydale go! Go, Sunnydale go! Go, Sunnydale go! Go!" 'Amy' cheers, a wide smile on her face.

 

'Catherine' is cutting an eye from a frog, a squeamish look on her face.

"Right! Here we go." Giles says. Trinity looks at Buffy, who is getting weaker. Giles mixes the potion and begins to chant. "The center is dark. Centrum  _est obscurus._  The darkness breathes.  _Tenebrae respiratis._  The listener hears. Hear me!"

 

The cheerleaders are doing a counting chant. 'Amy' stops, startled. Her vision flashes to what 'Catherine' sees in the science lab, the book and the frog. She's back in the gym and takes up the count again, with a worried look on her face.

 

"Oh, it's...it's working!" 'Catherine' says.

Giles takes the book up from the table and reads. "Unlock the gate. Let the darkness shine. Cover us with holy fear." 'Catherine' staggers back and covers her face. "Show me..." The lights go out in the classroom.

 

Some of the cheerleaders are lifting 'Amy'. Once up, she thrusts her fists into the air and gives the crowd a big smile. Her smile fades as she has another flash to the lab, where she gets a glimpse of Buffy. She comes back to the gym and begins to lose her balance. Xander and Willow watch. The cheerleaders supporting 'Amy' struggle for control, but they collapse. The crowd reacts to the fall. Xander and Willow see everything as well.

"Amy, what's your problem?!" Joy asks, but is taken aback by the glare the girl shoots her.

'Amy' gets up and looks around before running from the gym.

 

'Catherine' looks up. "She's coming!"

Trinity and Giles look at her, worried.

 

'Amy' violently pushes open a door.

Willow stops her. "Amy!"

"Get out of my way!"

"W-wait! I-I-I need to talk to you, I-I can help you."

"Help me? With what?"

"Uh, well, y'know, all your witchcraft! I, I know this really good cauldron." She stalls as Xander sneaks up behind 'Amy'. "Do you actually ride a broom?" 'Amy' growls and turns around holding her hand out. Xander's hand goes to his throat as he struggles to breathe. 'Amy' makes a fist and twists it, making Xander collapse to the floor, choking. "Xander!"

'Amy' spins back around and punches Willow hard in the face, knocking her to the floor. She starts running to the lab.

 

Giles holds his arms up, chanting. "Corsheth and Gilail! The gate is closed! Receive the dark! Release the unworthy! Take of mine energy and be sated!" He plunges his hands into the potion.

 

'Amy' slams through another door and continues walking to the lab with a determined look on her face. She tries the door, but it's locked. She yanks at it.

 

Giles takes his hands out of the brew. 'Catherine' and Trinity look at the door and see that it's being yanked on. "Be sated! Release the unworthy!" He yells.

 

'Amy' stops yanking at the door and finds a fire axe in a glass case. She breaks the glass with her fist and takes out the axe.

 

Buffy's eyes close and her head lolls.

Trinity looks at her and lightly slaps her cheek. "Buffy! Stay awake!"

"Release!" Giles yells. 'Amy' begins to chop down the door. "Release!" Buffy still lies prone as Trinity calls her name. 'Amy has now made a hole and reaches through to get the door open. "RELEASE!"

Amy starts to wield the axe, but stops when there's a flash of light and the spells are all broken. She is herself again. She looks around, confused, and steps back, lowering the axe. Buffy has her strength back and gets up from the table. Giles and Trinity sigh in relief.

"Buffy?" Amy asks.

"Amy?"

Catherine lunges at Buffy from the side and tackles her to the floor, knocking her out.

Giles advances, holding his arm out and pointing. "You...you..." He is at a loss for words. Catherine growls and looks at him. She uses her powers to force him back and push a table against him, knocking him down and out. She waves her arm, sending Trinity into a wall.

Amy just stands there watching, still holding the axe in both hands.

Catherine gets up and confronts her. "You! You little brat!"

Amy holds the axe up. "Mom! Please!"

Catherine holds out her hand, and the axe flies from Amy's hands to hers. "How dare you raise your hand to your mother! I gave you birth. I gave up my life so you could drag that worthless carcass around and call it living?" She swings the axe into a lab table. "You've never been anything but trouble. I'm going to put you where you can't make trouble again!"

Buffy jumps up behind Catherine. "Guess what?" Catherine turns to face her. "I feel better!" She punches Catherine, making the woman fly through the air. She lands on a lab table and rolls off, hitting a shelf full of bottles along the way.

She quickly gets up. "That body was mine! Mine!"

Buffy rolls her eyes. "Oh, grow up!"

Catherine growls, holds her arm out toward Buffy and uses her powers to send her flying against the wall. Buffy hits the wall and falls to the floor. She gets up, craning her neck.

Catherine begins to cast a spell. "I shall look upon my enemy!" She glares at Buffy, her eyes pitch black. "I shall look upon her and the dark place will have her soul!" Buffy looks around for a way to stop her. She sees the pole holding up the mirror above her. "Corsheth, take her!"

Buffy does a standing hook kick, knocking the pole out from under the mirror and letting it flop down. Catherine's spell leaps from her hands and is reflected by the mirror back at her. The power of the spell envelops her as she screams. The energy twists around her and disappears with a roar, taking her with it.

Buffy surveys the scene. Amy is badly shaken. Trinity groans as she stands up, holding a hand to her head. Buffy sees Giles unconscious on the floor.

He wakes up. "Well, that was, um, interesting."

Buffy gives him her hand and helps him up. "You guys okay?"

"I'm fine." Amy says.

"I assume the, uh, all the spells are reversed. It was my first casting, so..." He takes a deep breath. "I may have got it wrong."

"You saved my life! You were a god!" Buffy smiles.

"Well, I didn't think you'd pull it off." Amy says.

"But we're glad that you did." Trinity continues.

Suddenly Xander comes rushing in and grabs Amy tightly. "I got her! I got her! Cut her head off!"

Buffy looks at him. "Xander, what are you doing?"

"Saving you?"

"Get your hands off of her."

"But she's evil."

"It wasn't exactly her." Giles tells him.

"I was my mom." Amy says.

"Oh!" He releases her.

Willow rushes in as well, wielding a bat. "Where is she?!"

"Uh, hey Willow! It's cool!" Xander says.

"It is?"

He nods. "Yeah, I took care of it."

The others share a look.

 

Buffy scoops her smashed alarm clock into a wastebasket.

Her mother comes in. "I don't get it."

Buffy looks at her. "What?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking about...where you're coming from, how to relate to you...and I've come to a very simple conclusion; I don't get it."

"I'm inscrutable, huh?"

"You're sixteen. I think there's a, a biological imperative whereby I can't understand you because I'm not sixteen."

"Do you ever wish you could be sixteen again?"

"Oh, that's a frightful notion." She sighs. "Go through all that again? Not even if it helped me understand you." She smiles at her daughter, and Buffy smiles back.

"I love you, mom." She jumps up and kisses her mom on the cheek, then runs from the room.

Joyce watches after her. "I don't get it!" She says to herself.

 

At school, Buffy and Amy are walking together. "My dad is  _so_ impossible! He doesn't ever want me going anywhere! He wants to spend total quantity time together. And I'm, like, 'Dad, I can go out, it's perfectly safe!' But he's got all this guilt about leaving me with my mom. And he's being a total pain." Amy complains.

Buffy smiles at her. "You're loving it."

Amy smiles as well. "Every single minute." They turn a corner. "This Saturday night he wants to stay in and make brownies. Well, the brownies were my idea."

Cordelia comes up behind them. "Hey, I'm really sorry you guys got bumped back to alternate." She stops and reconsiders. "Hold it, wait...no I'm not!"

"Well, I know that I'll miss the intellectual thrill of spelling out words with my arms." Amy says sarcastically.

"Ooh, these crapes are sour!" Cordelia teases before walking away.

Buffy and Amy stop at the trophy case. Amy turns to her. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that you wanted to be on the squad."

Buffy shrugs. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that you wanted to be on the squad."

Amy sighs. "That's for sure." They go around to the front of the case and look at Catherine's picture. "Catherine the Great."

"And there's been no sign of her?"

"That last spell...she said I'd never make trouble again. Wherever she is I don't think we'll have to worry." They both look at Catherine's cheerleading trophy.

"Twisted."

They turn and go. "I'm just happy to have my body back. I'm thinking of getting fat."

"Y'know, I hear that look's in for spring."

They don't see Catherine's eyes moving back and forth in the trophy, muffled noises coming from it.


	4. Teacher's Pet

At the bronze, a girl screams. A vampire is advancing on Buffy as she backs into a pole. She throws a solid right to his face followed by a left. The vampire isn't fazed. He grabs her and throws her onto a pool table. He leans over to bite her when suddenly; Xander comes up behind him and grabs him by the shoulders, pulling him off of Buffy.

"May I cut in?" He says before bashing the vampire's head into the pool table. He turns him around and punches him in the stomach before hitting him in the face. The vampire falls to the floor, unconscious. Buffy smiles, impressed. Xander offers her his hand to help her off of the pool table. "You alright?"

"Thanks to you!" She slides off of the table and notices Xander's hand. "You hurt your hand! Will you still be able to-"

"Finish my solo and kiss you like you've never been kissed before?" He gives her a wink and starts back to the stage. The vampire gets back up and growls at Buffy. Xander sees him, breaks the leg off of a chair that's been knocked over and throws the makeshift stake at the vampire. Buffy watches the stake fly into the vampire's chest, and he falls dead. She turns her gaze back on Xander. He jumps up onto stage and grabs his guitar to continue his solo.

Buffy looks up at him adoringly and advances to the stage as he plays. "You're drooling."

Xander gives her a confused look.

 

"Xander!" Buffy whispers. He wakes up from his daydream and shakes his head, seeing the dark room of the science class and Dr. Gregory presenting slides. She points to the corner of her mouth. "You've got a little..."

He picks up on her gesture and quickly wipes the drool off of his mouth and chin.

"Their ancestors were here long before we were." Dr. Gregory explains. "Their progeny will be here long after we are gone. The simple and ubiquitous ant." He turns off the projector, turns the lights on and begins walking up the aisle. "Now. If you read the homework you should know the two ways that ants communicate." He stops at Xander's lab table and leans on it to face Buffy. "Miss Summers."

She gives a startled look. "Ways that ants communicate."

He nods his head. "Mm-hmm."

She hesitates, put on the spot. "With other ants."

"From the homework." He says. Behind him Willow tries to get Buffy's attention. "Ants are communicating..."

Buffy sees Willow's signals. "Um, uh, uh..." Willow strokes Xander's back, indicating 'touch'. "Touch."

"Mm-hmm."

"And, um..." She looks at Willow again. She is sniffing Xander, indicating 'smell'. She looks at Willow, confused. "B.O?" Several students laugh. Willow gives her a disappointed look.

"Thank God someone finally found the courage to mention that!" Blayne says.

"That would be 'touch' and 'smell', Miss Summers." Dr. Gregory says. "Is there anything else Miss Rosenberg would like to tell you?" Willow quickly turns away in her seat. The bell rings. Dr. Gregory starts to move back to the front of the class. "Alright, chapters six through eight by tomorrow, people." He stops and looks back at Buffy. "Can I see you for a moment?"

Buffy nods.

Trinity stands from her seat. "I need to talk to you later." She says before leaving.

After the other students have left the room, Buffy leans against a lab table.

Dr. Gregory idly reviews his slides. "I gather you had a few problems at your last school?"

"Well, what teenager doesn't?"

"Cut school, get in fights, burn down the gymnasium...Principal Flutie showed me your permanent record." He walks to the front of the class, and Buffy follows him.

"Well, that fire, I mean, there was major extenuating circumstances. Actually, it's, uh, kinda funny!" She gives a nervous laugh.

"Can't wait to see what you're gonna do _here_." He goes to the closet, gets his other glasses from his coat and cleans them.

"Destructo Girl. That's me."

"But I suspect it's gonna be great."

"You mean, 'great' in a bad way?"

Dr. Gregory looks at her, then back at his glasses. "You have a first-rate mind and you can think on your feet. Imagine what you could accomplish if you actually did the-"

"The homework thing."

"The homework thing. I understand you probably have a good excuse for not doing it." He closes the closet and walks back to his lab table. "Amazingly enough, I don't care. I know you can excel in this class, and so I expect no less. Is that clear?"

"Yeah! Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, be smart." He looks at another slide. "And please don't listen to the principal or anyone else's negative opinion about you. Let's make 'em eat that permanent record. What do ya say?" He looks up at Buffy and gives her a little smile.

She smiles back. "Okay! Thanks."

He nods his head as she grabs her bag. "Chapters six through eight!"

Buffy looks back at him with a smile and leaves the classroom.

Dr. Gregory puts the slide down, goes over to turn off the lights and comes back to his slide-viewing plate. While he concentrates on the slides, the closet door opens. He doesn't notice until a large, green mantis claw wraps around his neck. Dr. Gregory looks up behind him and screams. The claw drags him out of his chair. His glasses break as they hit the floor. A moment later his body hits the floor as well.

 

Buffy sees Trinity sitting outside and takes a seat next to her. "Hey." She greets. "What did you want to talk about?"

Trinity looks at her for a moment before speaking. "I want you to teach me how to fight."

Buffy's face falters. "What?"

"I want you to train me."

"Trinity..."

The girl sighs. "Look, I may not have slayer strength, but I am stronger than the average human. I have the speed, the strength, the agility; I just...don't know how to put it to the best use. You can help me with that."

"Trinity, it isn't your job to fight all the bad guys, you could get hurt."

"Well I could get killed if I don't know how to protect myself. I want to do all I can to help Buffy. I don't just want to do research. You don't have to go on patrol by yourself all the time. Maybe when I get good enough, you can take some nights off, spend some more time with your mom."

"Trinity-"

"Imagine what could happen if you don't help me. I'm pretty headstrong. I'll take a few classes from some nobody at the 'Y' and then go try my hand at a vampire or something bigger."

Buffy's silent for a moment. "Fine." She sighs. Trinity smiles. "But don't think that I'm going to go easy on you." Trinity nods. "And if you get hurt...we stop." She sees the defiant look on Trinity's face. "Those are my conditions."

Trinity sighs. "Fine." She holds her hand out and Buffy shakes it.

 

At the Bronze, the band Superfine is playing.

_The first date's the worst date_

_It's hard to know just what to do_

_And I take you to dinner_

_You don't eat, you just play with your food_

Xander is on the dance floor and looks around. He makes his way to the stage and gives the singer an acknowledging nod and grin.

  
_And there's something familiar..._ The singer shoots him a 'get outta here' look. _About every word you say_  


Xander's face falls and he moves away from the stage.

_It's hard to believe it's happened again_

_I already met you_

_And I already met you_

_You're like my last girlfriend_

_Yes, and the girlfriend I had before her_

Xander goes over to the bar where Blayne and his friend are sitting. "Seven, including Cheryl. I'll tell you, though, her sister was lookin' to make it eight!" Blayne brags.

"Ooh, Cheryl's sister? The one in college?" A boy asks.

Blayne nods. "Home for the holidays and lookin' for love! She's not my type, though. Girls really gotta have something to go with me."

"Something like a lobotomy?" Xander interrupts, making the two boys look at him.

"Xander. How many times you score?" Blayne asks.

"Well, uh..."

"It's just a question."

"Are we talking today, or the whole week?" The two boys snicker. Xander spots Buffy, Willow and Trinity coming down the stairs. "Ooh! Duty calls." He leaves the bar and approaches the girls as Blayne and his friend watch. "Babes!" The girls look back at him. He comes up to them with his arms wide open and settles them around Buffy and Willow's shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Buffy asks.

"Work with me here." He says quietly. "Blayne had the nerve to question my manliness. I'm just gonna give him a visual."

Willow throws her arms around him tightly. "We'll show him!"

Xander looks back at Blayne, gives him a thumbs up and puts his arm back around Willow. The two boys seem impressed. Trinity discreetly rolls her eyes at the boys.

Buffy looks away, distracted. "I don't believe it."

"I know, and after all my conquests." Xander says. Buffy walks over to Angel. They look after her. "Who's that?"

Trinity shrugs while Willow speaks. "That must be Angel! I think?"

"That weird guy that warned her about all the vampires?"

"That's him, I'll bet you."

"Well, he's buff! She never said anything about him being buff!"

"You think he's buff?" Trinity asks.

"He's a very attractive man! How come _that_ never came up?"

 

Buffy walks up to Angel. "Well, look who's here."

"Hi." He greets.

"I'd say it's nice to see you, but then we both know that's a big fib."

"I won't be long."

"No, you'll just give me a cryptic warning about some exciting new catastrophe, and then disappear into the night. Right?"

"You're cold."

"You can take it."

Angel takes off his jacket. "I mean, you look cold." He puts his jacket around her shoulders.

 

"Oh, right!" Xander scoffs, watching the scene. "Give her your jacket. It's a balmy night; no one needs to be trading clothing out there!"

 

"A little big on me." Buffy notices cuts on Angel's arm. "What happened?"

"I didn't pay attention."

"To somebody with a big fork?"

"He's coming." He says ominously.

"The Fork Guy?"

"Don't let him corner you. Don't give him a moment's mercy. He'll rip your throat out."

"Okay, I'll give you improved marks for that one. Ripping a throat out, it's a strong visual, it's not cryptic!"

"I have to go." He leaves.

Buffy stares after him. "Sweet dreams to you, too."

 

The next morning, Buffy and Giles are walking along in front of the school.

Giles take a bite of his apple. "That's all he said? Fork Guy?"

Buffy nods. "That's all Cryptic Guy said; Fork Guy."

"I think there are too many 'guys' in your life." He laughs. They meet Willow and Trinity, who are sitting on a bench. "I'll see what I can find out." He looks up at the sky. "God, every day here is the same."

"Bright, sunny, beautiful, how ever can we escape this torment?" Buffy says sarcastically. Willow smiles at her as she sits down.

"Really." Giles says. Xander comes up behind as he turns to leave. "Good morning."

"Mornin'." He turns to the girls. "Guess what I just heard in the office? No Dr. Gregory today. Ergo, those of us who blew off our science homework aren't as dumb as we look." He reaches down and flips Willow's book closed. She has to stop it from sliding off of her lap.

"What happened, is he sick?" Buffy asks.

"They didn't say anything about sick, something about missing."

"He's missing?"

"Well, let me think. Um, the cheerleaders were modeling their new short skirts, that kinda got...yeah! Yeah, they said missing." They girls exchange a look. "Which is bad?"

"If something's wrong, yeah!"

"He's one of the only teachers that doesn't think Buffy's a felon." Trinity tells him.

"I'm really sorry, I'm sure he'll..." He sees a young new teacher walk by. "I, uh, huh..." The girls look to see what's distracting him. "Uh, huh... huh..."

The teacher walks up to Xander, who continues to stare at her. "Could you help me?" She asks. Trinity frowns, feeling an uncomfortable chill run through her.

"Uuuuuuhhhhhh...yes!" Xander says. Willow and Buffy give each other amused looks.

"I'm looking for Science..." She checks her schedule. "109."

"Oh! It's, um..." He looks around himself, trying to remember the way. He turns back to the woman and smiles. "I go there every day!" The woman laughs. He looks to the girls for help. "Oh, God, where is it?" Willow and Buffy while Trinity continues to stare at the woman.

Blayne appears and introduces himself. "Hi! Blayne Mall. I'm going there right now. It's not far from the varsity field where I took All-City last year." He gives a smug smile.

"Oh! Thank you, Blayne!" She and Blayne leave.

Xander's gaze follows them for a moment, and then he turns to the girls. "It's funny how the Earth never opens up and swallows you when you want it to." Buffy and Willow nod their heads and give each other a smile.

Buffy turns to Trinity, who stares ahead with a frown on her face. "Are you okay?" She asks.

Trinity blinks and looks at Buffy. "Yeah, just...a weird feeling." She shakes her head. "It's probably nothing."

 

In science class, the woman from earlier writes her name on the board. 'Natalie French'. Buffy, Willow, Trinity, and Xander walk in. Buffy spots Dr. Gregory's glasses on the floor and picks them up.

"What's wrong?" Willow asks.

"Dr. Gregory dropped his glasses...why wouldn't he pick them up?" She sets the glasses on the lab table and gives Natalie a glance as she walks to her stool. Trinity takes the seat next to her.

Natalie faces the class. "My name is Natalie French, and I will be substituting for Dr. Gregory."

"Do you know when he's coming back?"

"No, I don't, um..." She checks her roster. "Buffy. They just call and tell me where they want me."

"I'll tell you where I want you." Blayne says in a low voice.

Natalie turns to him. "Excuse me, Blayne?"

"Uh, I was just wondering if you were gonna pick up where Dr. Gregory left off."

She smiles. "Yes. His notes tell me you were right in the middle of insect life." She picks up a mantis mounted in a clear plastic box. "The praying mantis is a fascinating creature. Forced to live alone. Who can tell me why? Buffy?" She puts the mantis back down.

"Well, the words 'bug-ugly' kinda spring to mind." She says, making a few students laugh.

"There is nothing ugly about these unique creatures. The reason they live alone is because they're cannibals."

"Ew!" Buffy makes a disgusted face as do the other students.

"Oh, well, it's hardly their fault." Natalie defends. "It's the way nature designed them; noble, solitary and prolific. Over 1800 species worldwide, and in nearly all of them the female is larger _and_ more aggressive than the male."

"Nothing wrong with an aggressive female." Blayne says quietly. Trinity rolls her eyes while Buffy shoots him a look.

Natalie picks up her notebook and starts to walk around the room. "The California Mantis lays her eggs, and then finds a mate..." She looks at Xander and he stares back. "To fertilize them. Once he's played his part, she covers the eggs in a protective sack and attaches it to a leaf or twig out of danger. Now, if she's done her job correctly, in a few months she'll have several hundred offspring." She has made her way back to the front of the class and puts down her notebook. "You know, we should make some model egg sacks for the science fair. Who would like to help me do that after school?" All the boys raise their hands and she gives a pleased smile. "Good!"

Buffy looks at Trinity when she sees the girl squirming in her seat. "Are you _sure_ you're okay?" She asks. Trinity takes several deep breathes but doesn't answer. Buffy looks around before leaning closer to Trinity. "Your eyes!" She whispers.

Trinity looks at her, eyes in golden slits. "What?"

"Your eyes changed!" She looks at Trinity's hands and sees that they are turning into claws. "And your hands." She grabs them and hides them under the table. "What is going on?!"

"I don't know!" Trinity whispers harshly before standing from her seat. "Excuse me." She says, keeping her head down and her fist balled as she rushes out of the classroom.

 

Trinity rushes into the library, startling Giles. "Trinity?" He asks. Trinity's eyes blaze and she pants. "What's happened?"

"I've had a really bad feeling."

"What is it?"

Trinity shakes her head. "I don't know." She says. "But I think it has something to do with the new teacher."

He looks at her. "Miss French? She's lovely. In a, a common, extremely well proportioned way. She seems perfectly normal."

" _I_ seem perfectly normal." She says and looks at her claws. "Well...not at the moment."

Giles takes his glasses off and cleans them. "Well...I-I guess we should investigate once Buffy gets out of class. You can stay here for the time being."

Trinity sighs in relief. "Thank you."

 

Buffy, Willow and Xander are in the lunch line.

"I saw Giles in the hallway." Willow tells them. "He says that Trinity's with him. She's fine now but he'll explain more later."

"I'm glad she's okay." Buffy says before looking at the food. "Hot dog surprise. Be still, my heart."

"Call me old-fashioned, I don't want any more surprises in my hot dogs."

"I wonder what she sees in me." Xander says. "It's probably the quiet good looks coupled with a certain smoky magnetism." Willow raises her eyebrows at him. She turns to Buffy and they smile. "Miss French. You two are probably a little young to understand what an older woman would see in a younger man."

"Oh, I understand." Buffy says.

"Good!" He smiles.

"The younger man is too dumb to wonder why an older woman can't find someone her own age, and too desperate to care about the surgical improvements." She finishes.

Xander looks taken aback. "What surgical improvements?"

Willow smiles at Buffy. "Well, he is young."

"And so terribly innocent!" She teases.

"Hey, those that can, do. Those that can't _laugh_ at those who..." He struggles. "Can do."

Blayne comes up next to Xander, getting lots of food. "Gotta carb up for my one-on-one with Miss French today. When's yours? Oh, right, tomorrow. You came in second, I came in first. Guess that's what they call natural selection." He leaves.

"Guess it's what they call a rehearsal!" He calls after him before turning to the girls. "Rehearsal." He laughs lamely, making them smile.

Buffy goes over to get some utensils. As she walks back Cordelia comes in through the exit and bumps into her. "Excuse you!" Cordelia says before going behind the counter, showing a piece of paper to the cafeteria workers. "Medically prescribed lunch. My doctor ships it daily... I'll only be here as long as I can hold my breath." She opens a refrigerator and screams. Inside is a headless body. Buffy and Willow run to see what's wrong. Cordelia backs away from the fridge. "His head! His head!" She cries hysterically. "Oh my god, where's his head?!"

Buffy and Willow arrive to see what's inside. Buffy stares in disbelief. Xander is close behind and has to look away when he sees. Willow looks squeamish. The name on the body's lab coat is 'Dr. Gregory'.

 

In the library, Giles pours a glass of water. He brings it over to Buffy, who is sitting on the steps with Willow. Both girls have red rims around their eyes. "Here. Drink this."

Buffy take the class. "Thank you." She takes a sip.

"I've never seen..." Xander trails off, shaken. Giles looks at him. "I mean, I've never seen anything like...that was new."

"Who would wanna hurt Dr. Gregory?" Willow asks.

Trinity shoots a pointed look at Giles. "Yeah, Giles, who would?"

"Uh, he didn't have any enemies on the staff that I'm aware of. He was a civilized man." He tells them. "I liked him."

"So did I." Buffy says.

Willow looks up at Giles. "Well, we're gonna find out who did this. We'll find them and we'll stop them."

"Count on it." Buffy nods.

"Trinity?" Giles says. "I think that you should tell them."

The girl sighs before turning to her friends. "Something about Miss French set me off...bad." She says. "I can't pin point it but something is different."

"How do we know that it's her?" Xander asks. "Maybe whatever killed him was close by and set you off. What else do we know?"

"Oh, not a lot, um..." Buffy sniffs and wipes a tear away. "He was killed here on campus. I'm guessing the last day we saw him."

"How do you work that out?" Giles asks.

"He didn't change his clothing."

"This is a question that no one particularly wants to hear, but... where did they put his head?" Xander asks.

"Good point. I _didn't_ wanna hear that." Willow says.

"Angel!" Buffy gets up. "He warned me that something was coming." She takes another sip of water as she walks over to the table.

"Yes. Yes he did, didn't he?" Giles nods. "I wish I knew what he meant. I've been trying to gather more information about the Master, our, uh, local vampire king. There was one oblique reference to a, a, a vampire who displeased the Master and cut his hand off in penance."

"Cut off his hand and replaced it with a fork?" Buffy asks.

"I don't know what he replaced it with."

"So, why would he come after a teacher?" Xander asks.

"I'm not certain he did. There was an incident two nights ago." He walks over to the counter, picks up a newspaper and returns with it. "Uh, involving a homeless person in Weatherly Park. He was practically shredded, but, uh, nothing like Dr. Gregory."

Buffy looks at the paper. "Fork Guy doesn't do heads."

"Not historically."

"And Dr. Gregory's blood wasn't drained."

"So we're back to Miss French." Trinity says. "The lady who gives the neko extra wiggins."

"We don't know that Trinity." Xander defends. "It could just be a cat thing. Maybe you saw a mouse, or someone sprayed water on you, or stole your ball of yarn." He says, making the girl glare at him. "So there's something else out there? Besides 'Silverware man'? Oh, this is fun, we're on Monster Island."

"We're on a Hellmouth. It's a center of mystical convergence." Buffy says walking towards him. "Guess it's the same thing."

"Well, unpleasant things do gravitate here, it's true, but, uh, we don't know there's anything besides this chap. He's still our likely suspect. Though we should look into Miss French as well."

"Where was that guy killed? Weatherly Park?"

"Buffy." Giles walks up to her. "I know you're upset, but, uh, this is no time to go hunting, not until we know more. Please promise me you won't do anything rash?"

"Cross my heart."

 

That night at the park, Buffy climbs the fence. She walks through the park, carefully looking around.

A bum suddenly comes up, startling her. "Shouldn't be out here at night, little lady. Dangerous." He leaves.

She notices another bum on the ground in front of a bench and checks him out. He's okay, just asleep. Buffy continues stalking. Dogs bark in the distance. Buffy finds some shrubbery covering a sewer access hole. She moves it aside, and Fork Guy jumps out at her. She rushes backward. He swings with his claw, but misses. She slams her straight arm into his gut, then again into his back. He swings again, but Buffy dodges him. She backhand punches him in the face, does a roundhouse kick to his jaw and backhand punches his face again. He takes another swing at Buffy, but she evades it. She front kicks him. He lunges at her, and she grabs his arm and flips him over onto his back. Buffy tries to stake him, but he rolls away and back onto his feet. She kicks him again, and he staggers backward and falls. Buffy hears voices and turns to see people with flashlights coming over the hill.

"Hold it! Police!" She hears. "Did you see that? I got nothing here!" Buffy looks back and forth between Fork Guy and the posse. The vampire runs off. "I heard it. Spread out. Let's go over here. This way, this way. Alright."

Buffy chases the vampire.

Natalie is walking home with grocery bags in her arms. The vampire stalks her and climbs over the fence. Buffy comes running up. The vampire lands behind Natalie. Buffy reaches the fence and watches. Natalie senses the vampire, stops and turns to face him. Fork Guy hisses and runs away in fear. Natalie watches him go. Buffy's eyes widen in disbelief. The vampire crosses the street, lifts a manhole cover and climbs down. Natalie continues her walk home. Fork Guy pulls the manhole cover back into place. Buffy stares at the scene, mouth agape.

 

The next morning in the library, Giles and Trinity look at Buffy.

"You went hunting last night." He says.

She nods. "Yes." He walks into their office and they follow behind them. "When you assured me you wouldn't." He takes a sip from his mug.

"Yes, I lied, I'm a bad person, let's move on."

He opens his file cabinet. "Did you see someone with a fork?"

"More like a jumbo claw."

Giles turns to face her. "Oh. Well, uh, at least you're not hurt."

"And I saw something else. Something much more interesting than your average run-of-the-mill killer vampire." She turns to Trinity. "Looks like you were right." She turns back to Giles. "I'm chasing Claw Guy last night, and Miss French is heading home. The Claw Guy takes one look at her and runs screaming for cover."

"He what? Ran away?" He asks, confused.

Buffy nods. "He was petrified."

"Of Miss French?"

"I told you so!" Trinity says.

Buffy continues. "So I'm an undead monster that can shave with my hand...how many things am I afraid of?"

"Not many. And not substitute teachers, as a rule."

"So what's her deal?"

Giles takes his glasses off. "It seems that you were right Trinity. I think perhaps it would be a good idea if we kept an eye on her."

Buffy turns to the girl. "Do you think that you can handle being in class?"

Trinity nods. "Now that I know to have my guard up I'll be fine."

They rush down the stairs in the hall when they are stop by Principal Flutie.

He looks at Buffy. "You were there. You saw Dr. Gregory, didn't you?"

"Um, you mean yesterday in the cafeteria when we found him-" Buffy starts

"Don't say dead! Or decapitated, or decomposing, I'd stay away from D-words altogether." He looks at Trinity. "And you young lady?"

She looks at Buffy and back. "I missed it. I had an allergic reaction in class."

"Well you should get back." He turns back to Buffy. "But you witnessed the event, so this way, please." He starts walking but Buffy stops him short.

"Well, no, I'm gonna be late for biology-"

"Extremely late!" He continues down the hallway. "You have to see a counselor. Everyone who saw the body has to see a crisis counselor."

"But I really don't need-" But she interrupted. She looks over her shoulder and shoots Trinity a helpless look as she follow him.

"We all need help with our feelings. Otherwise we bottle them up, and before you know it, powerful laxatives are involved. I really believe if we all reach out to one another we can beat this thing. I'm always here if you need a hug." He jumps back. "But not a real hug! Because there's no touching, this school is sensitive to wrong touching."

"But, I really, really don't-"

"No, you have to talk to a counselor and start the healing. You have to heal."

"But Mr. Flutie, I-"

"Heal!" He sits her down in a chair outside of the counselor's office and paces off. Buffy leans back in the chair and looks bummed.

Then she hears Cordelia inside the office. "I don't know what to say, it was really, I mean, one minute you're in your normal life, and then who's in the fridge?" The girl says. It really gets to you, a thing like that. It was... let's just say I haven't been able to eat a thing since yesterday. I think I lost, like, seven and a half ounces? Way swifter than that so-called diet that quack put me on. Oh, I'm not saying that we should kill a teacher every day just so I can lose weight, I'm just saying when tragedy strikes, we have to look on the bright side. You know?" Buffy's face scrunches at the girls venting. "Like, how even used Mercedes still have leather seats!"

 

Trinity waits outside the science class. She looks at her hand and sees her claws out.

 

Natalie is giving a pop quiz, and is walking along the aisle. "Keep your eyes straight ahead on your own test." She comes up behind Xander. "I think you meant 'pollination' for number fourteen." She whispers and puts a hand on his shoulder. "I'll see you here after school."

Buffy comes running to the class and sees Trinity. "Why aren't you in there?" She asks.

Trinity holds her hand up, showing the claws. "I can't or I'm going to attack her."

Buffy looks through the door window. "Oh, great, a pop quiz." She groans. Natalie suddenly straightens up and turns head around 180 degrees. Buffy's eyes widen and she rolls away from the window.

"What?" Trinity asks.

 

Buffy, Willow, and Trinity walk into the library. "No, I'm not saying she craned her neck. We are talking full-on Exorcist twist." Buffy explains.

"Ouch!" Willow says.

"Which reminds me, how come Blayne, who worked with her one-on- one yesterday, isn't here today?"

"Inquiring minds wanna know."

Trinity looks at Giles. "Any luck?" She asks as Willow sits down in front of the PC and begins a search.

"Um, I've not found any creature as yet that strikes terror in a vampire's heart." He says.

"Or sets off the instincts of a neko?"

"Try looking under things that can turn their heads all the way around." Buffy tells him.

"Nothing human can do that." He says.

"No, nothing human. There are some insects that can. Whatever she is, I'm gonna be ready for her." She turns and hops up the stairs to the stacks.

Giles takes off his glasses. "What are you going to do?"

"My homework." She continues up into the stacks. Willow looks up at her and smiles, then continues her search. Buffy comes running back. "Where are the books on bugs?"

 

In the science classroom, Natalie is at the desk spreading butter on a slice of bread. She's about to open a plastic container when she hears Xander come in and looks up.

"Hi!" He smiles.

"Oh, Hi! I was just grabbing a snack. Can I fix you something?"

"No thanks, I never...eat when I'm making egg sacks." He sees the model. "Wow, if this were real the bugs would be-"

"As big as you!" She finishes.

"Yeah! So! Where do we start?"

"Oh, Xander." She gets up. "I've done something really stupid. I hope you can forgive me."

"Oh, forgiveness is my middle name! Well, actually it's Lavelle, and I'd appreciate it if you guard that secret with your life." They laugh.

"I have a teacher's conference in half an hour, and I left the paint and paper-mache at home. I don't suppose you'd like to come to my place tonight to work on it there?"

He gulps. "Come to, uh...your place." He flashes to his guitar solo for a moment.

"7:30? Here's my address." She writes it down. Xander can't believe his luck. She hand him the address. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah!" He answers, his voice high and squeaky. He walks out the classroom and pumps his fist into the air. "Ooh, yes!"

 

Back inside the classroom, Natalie opens the container. It's full of crickets. She dumps them onto the buttered bread and folds the slice in half. She takes a crunchy bite.

 

Buffy comes out of the stacks with a book. "Dig this; 'The praying mantis can rotate its head 180 degrees while waiting for its next meal to walk by.'" She slams the book shut. "Ha!" She looks up but is met with silence. "Well, c'mon, guys. Ha!"

"Well, Miss French is sort of big. For a bug?" Willow says hesitantly.

"And she is, by and large, woman shaped." Giles adds.

Trinity shrugs. "I believe you. Cats don't like praying mantis's."

Buffy sends her a smile and makes her way down the stairs. "Okay. Factoid 1: Only the praying mantis can rotate its head like that. Factoid 2: A pretty whacked-out vampire is scared to death of her. Factoid 3: Her fashion sense screams predator."

"It's the shoulder pads." Willow says.

Buffy nods. "Exactly."

"If you're right, then she'd have to be a shape shifter or a perception distorter." Giles explains. "On a helpful note, I had a chum at Oxford, Carlyle, advanced degrees in entomology mythology."

"Entoma-who?"

"Bugs and fairy tales." He simplifies.

"I knew that."

"If I recall correctly, poor old Carlyle, just before he went mad, claimed there was some beast..."

The PC beeps and Willow's eyes widen. "Buffy, 911! Blayne's mom called the school. He never came home last night."

"The boy who worked with Miss French yesterday?" Giles asks.

"Yeah! If Miss French is responsible for... Xander's supposed to be helping her right now! He's got a crush on a giant insect!"

"Okay, don't panic, I'll warn him. But I need you to hack onto the coroner's office for me." Buffy tells her.

"Well, what are we looking for?"

"Autopsy on Dr. Gregory. I've been trying to figures out these marks that I saw on his corpse... I'm thinking they were teeth. And, uh, these cuddlies?" She points to a picture of a mantis. "Should definitely be brushing after every meal." Willow begins typing and Buffy turns to Giles. "And you were saying something about a beast?"

Giles gets up to go to his office. "Oh, uh, yeah, I just need to make one transatlantic telephone call." He stops and turns back. "Um, this computer invasion that Willow's performing on the coroner's office, one, one assumes it is entirely legal?" The girls answer simultaneously.

"Exactly!"

"Of course!"

"Absolutely!"

"Right." He frowns before turning away. "Wasn't here, didn't see it, couldn't have stopped you."

"Good idea." Buffy nods before heading towards the library doors. She turns to Trinity when she notices the girl following her. "Where are you going?"

"To help. We're going to kill her right?"

"No, it's the middle of the day. _We're_ not going to do anything. You're not coming."

"What?! But you said-"

"This is dangerous and you're not ready."

"I'm the one who found out about her in the first place while you all were convinced it was Fork Guy!"

"Trinity, we're not going after her right now, I gotta warn Xander, we'll deal with this later." She leaves.

 

Buffy catches up with Xander. "Hey!"

"Hey!" He smiles.

"So, how'd it go with Miss French?"

"Well, it's a bit demanding being her absolute favorite guy in the universe, but I'll muddle through."

"Xander, she's not what she seems."

"I know, she's so much more."

"Okay, um... I'm gonna have to tell you something about her, and I'm gonna need you to really listen, okay?"

"Okay."

"I don't think she's human."

"I see. So if she's not human she's...?"

"Technically? A big bug." She tells him, making him laugh. "This sounds really weird, I'm aware of that..."

"It doesn't sound weird at all, I completely understand. I've met someone, and you're jealous."

"What?"

"Look, there's nothing I can do about it. Uh, there's just this certain chemical thing between Miss French and me."

"I know, I read all about it, it's call, um, a pheromone. It's a chemical attractant that insects give off."

"She's not an insect! She's a woman, okay? And hard as that may be for you to conceive, an actual woman finds me attractive. I realize it's no mystery guy handing out leather jackets, and while we're on the subject, what kind of a girlie name is 'Angel' anyway?"

"What does that have to do with-"

"Nothing! It just kinda bugs me. Look, I really gotta..." He walks off.

Buffy turns and watches him go. "Wha...?"

 

That night at Natalie's house, she pours two martinis. The doorbell rings and she smiles, smoothing down her low cut dress before going to answer it. "Hi! Come on in!" She greets. Xander stares at her cleavage as he enters. "Should I change? Is, is this too..." She closes the door.

"No, no, it's, the most beautiful chest... dress I've ever seen."

She smiles and goes back into the living room. Xander follows. "Thank you. That's sweet. Martini?" She offer it him one. "Oh, I'm sorry, would you like something else?" Xander quickly accepts the drink, making her laugh. "I just need to relax a little, I'm kinda nervous around you." She sits down. "You're probably cool as a cucumber!"

Xander sits down as well. "I like cucumbers. Like in that Greek salad thing with the yogurt. Do you like Greek food? I'm exempting Schwarma, of course, I mean, what's that all about? It's a big meat hive." They laugh, he nervously, she playfully. Xander gulps down the martini. "Hhhhhhho! Hello!"

"Cheers." She clinks their glasses. "Can I ask you a personal question?" She puts her glass down and scoots closer to Xander. "Have you ever been with a woman before?"

"You mean, like, in, uh, the same room?"

"You know what I mean."

"Oh, that, uh...w ell, let me think. Um..." He trails off as Natalie runs her fingers though his hair and around his ear. "Yeah, there was, uh... several!" She continues her stroke down to Xander's chin. "I mean, and, uh, quite a few times...and then there was, uh...oh, she was incredibly...no. Uh-uh."

"I know. I can tell."

"You can?"

"Oh, I like it. You might say, I... _need_ it."

"Oh! Well, needs should, uh, y'know...needs should definitely be met, as long as it doesn't require ointments the next day, or..." He hears a muffled yell. "Do you hear...?"

She shakes her head. "No."

"Sounds like someone crying."

"I don't hear anything." She takes his hand. "Your hands are so hot!"

Xander flashes to his dream.

 

" _Oh, you hurt your hand!" Buffy says._  


 

Xander comes back. The drink is beginning to affect him. He leans back on the couch. "Buffy. I love Buffy. Wow! So that's a martini, huh?"

"Mm-hmm." She nods.

He sits back up. "Do you hear-"

"Would you like to touch me with those hands?"

He looks at Natalie's hands. "Your hands are sss... really..." He hands morph. "Serrated. Oh, wow, that martini, I... I really think I have to..." Xander falls to the floor, unconscious. Two mantis claws drag him away by his feet.

 

Xander wakes up in the basement, locked in a cage. He grabs the bars and pulls himself up. He sees Natalie as a giant mantis preparing her nest. "Miss... French?"

"Please, call me Natalie."

Xander backs away to the other side of the cage.

 

At the library, Giles is on the phone. "Frankly, madam, I haven't the faintest idea what time it is, nor do I care. Now, unlock his cell, unstrap him, and bring him to the telephone immediately. This is a matter of life and death!"

Willow stops typing. "Got it! Coroner's report, complete with...yuck!" She says. "Color pictures."

Trinity and Buffy look over her shoulder. "There _are_ teeth marks. Which match perfectly the one insect that nips off its prey's head." Buffy says.

"Okay, I-I don't like this."

"Huh! It's the way they feed, head first. It's also the way they mate. The female bites off the male's head while they're-"

"No, no, no! See? Xander's, I like his head! I-it's where you find his eyes, and his hair, and his adorable smile-"

"Hey, hey, take it easy, Willow." Trinity puts a hand on her shoulder.

Buffy nods. "Xander is not in any immediate danger. I saw him leave school. He's probably safe at home right now."

 

Xander backs up in his cage and is surprised by Blayne when he reaches the far corner. "Ah! Blayne!"

"Oh god! Oh god!" Blayne cries.

"Are you all right?"

"Oh god!" He pants. "You gotta get me outta here! You gotta! She, she, she gets you, and, uh..."

"What?"

"...she, she..."

"What does she do?"

"Oh god! Oh, oh, no!"

"Blayne! What does she do?"

"She, she... she, she takes you outta the cage, and she ties you up, and, and... she... she starts movin', and throbbin', and these eggs come shootin' out of her! And then..."

"What?"

"And then..."

"Then what?"

"She mates with you!"

"She..."

"That's not the worst part!"

"That's not?"

"You seen her teeth? Right while she's, you know, right in the middle of... I saw her do it! I don't wanna die like that!"

"Blayne! Blayne! Chill! It's okay. It's gonna be okay. We'll get outta this."

"You gotta plan? What is it?" He asks hopefully.

"Just, uh, let me perfect it!"

His face falls, giving up hope. "Oh god...oh god, oh god, oh god."

 

Giles is talking with Carlyle on the phone in his office. "I-I understand, Carlyle. Yes... I-I'll take every precaution. Uh, absolutely, i-i-it sounds exactly like the creature you described. Y-you were right all along about everything. Well, n-no, you weren't right about your mother coming back as a Pekinese, but... uh...try to rest, old man. Yes...ta! Bye now!" He hangs up and comes out of his office. Willow, Trinity, and Buffy are at the PC. "Dr. Ferris Carlyle spent years transcribing a lost pre-Germanic language. What he discovered he kept to himself until several teenage boys were murdered in the Cotswold's. Then he went hunting for it.

"It being...?" Buffy asks.

"Uh, he calls her a She-Mantis. This type of creature, the Kleptes-Virgo, or, or virgin-thief, appears in, in many cultures. The Greek sirens, the Celtic sea maidens, who, who tore the living flesh from the bones of, um..."

"Giles, while we're young!"

"Uh, well, basically the, uh, the She-Mantis assumes the form of a beautiful woman and then lures innocent virgins back to her nest."

"Virgins? Well, Xander's not a, uh... I mean, he's probably-"

"Gonna die!" Willow and Trinity say. Willow goes to the phone.

"Okay, okay." Buffy walks around Giles. "So this thing is breeding and we need to find it and snuff it." She faces him. "Any tips on the snuffing part?"

"Uh, Carlyle recommends cleaving all body parts with a sharp blade." He tells her. Willow is on the phone in the background behind Buffy talking to Xander's mom.

"Slice and Dice." Trinity nods.

"Well, whatever you do, it had better be certain and swift. This beast is extremely dangerous." He warns Buffy.

"Well, your buddy Carlyle faced it, and he's still around." She says.

"Yes, in a straitjacket, howling his innards out day and night."

"Okay, Admiral, way to inspire the troops!"

"Sorry..."

Willow walks over. "Xander's not home! He told his mom he was going to his teacher's house to work on a science project. He didn't tell her where."

Buffy turns to Willow. "See if you can get her address off the substitute rolls." She looks at Trinity. "You're coming with me." She turns to Giles. "And you need to record bat sonar, and fast!"

He nods. "Bat sonar, right. What?"

"Bats eat them." She leads Giles to the stairs. "The mantis hears sonar, its entire nervous system goes kaplooey."

"Where am I gonna find the-"

"In the vid library? There're no books, but it's dark and musty, you'll feel right at home, go!" She looks at Trinity. "I guess we'll handle the armory."

 

Xander and Blayne are in their cages. Xander is working on one of the bars.

"Don't do anything to make her mad!" Blayne says but his face brightens when Xander pulls the bar out. "Hey, alright, now I can get outta my cage!" His face falls. "Into yours. What'd you do that for?"

"A weapon!" Xander says.

Blayne sees Natalie coming. "I think you're gonna need it."

Xander looks up and is startled. He drops the bar.

 

In the library, Miss French's record is coming out of the printer. Buffy and Trinity come in.

"Getting the address." Willow tells them.

Buffy nods. "Great! Giles?"

He holds up a tape recorder. "Recording bat sonar is something soothingly akin to having one's teeth drilled."

Buffy takes the tape recorder. "Let's roll!" They all head for the door.

"According to Miss French's personnel records, she was born in 1907." Willow says.

Trinity looks at her. "She's, like, 90 years old!"

"And extremely well preserved." Giles says.

 

Natalie looks back and forth between the boys.

"Oh god!" Blayne goes through the hole into Xander's cage. "Uh, he did that, he broke the cage, take him, not me, take him!"

 

Giles, Buffy, Trinity, and Willow pull up to Miss French's house. They get out and run up to the door.

"What now, exactly? We can't just kick the door down." Giles says.

Buffy scoffs. "Yeah, that _would_ be wrong." She gets ready to kick, but the door opens.

An old lady looks at them. "Hello, dear! I thought I heard...are you selling something? Because I'd like to help you out, but...you see, I'm on a fixed income."

"I'm looking for Miss French."

The old lady nods. "I'm Miss French."

"Natalie French, the substitute biology teacher?"

She laughs. "Goodness, that's me! I taught for over thirty years. I retired in 1972."

Buffy turns to Giles. "I can't believe this! She used Miss French's records to get into the school. She could be anywhere!"

"No, dear! I'm right here!" The old lady says.

 

Xander watches Natalie with wide eyes. "What's she doing?"

"I think it's eeny, meeny, miney..." Blayne trails off.

"Moe?" Xander says, a terrified look on his face.

Natalie opens the door to the cage.

Xander crawls out on his butt, bar in hand. "I'm comin', I'm comin'." Just as he gets out, he swings the bar and hits Natalie as he gets up. She staggers. He runs for the stairs. Halfway up Natalie trips him with her claw, and he tumbles back down the stairs.

 

Giles, Willow, Trinity, and Buffy are going back to the car.

"What do we do now?" Willow asks.

"Abject prayer and supplication would spring to mind." Giles says.

"I saw her walking past this park with her grocery bags. She lives in this neighborhood." Buffy tells them.

"I'm gonna start banging on doors." Willow goes to head for the next house but Buffy stops her.

"Wait, no, we do _not_ have time for that!"

"We have to do something!"

"We will." She looks at Trinity. "Can you sense her?"

Trinity shakes her head. "I'd have to be really close. I didn't notice her at school until she walked up to us. And I didn't freak out until we were in a closed room together."

Buffy pauses in thought. "I have an idea."

 

Buffy lifts up the manhole she saw Claw Guy go in and starts to climb down. "I won't be long."

"Wha...Buffy?" Giles asks.

 

Xander is tied up with leather straps. Natalie is in his face.

"Oh, yeah, here it comes!" Blayne cries.

"What? What's happening?!" Xander asks.

"How do you like your eggs, bro, over easy or sunny side up?"

"Eggs? She's gonna lay some..." He sees her lay some eggs and flashes to Natalie's lecture in science class.

 

" _The California Mantis lays her eggs, and then finds a mate to fertilize them." Natalie explains._  


 

Xander looks at the mantis, terrified.

 

"Come on, Buffy!" Willow shouts into the manhole.

 

There are sounds of Claw Guy swinging his arm and ropes whipping through the air. Buffy pushes Claw Guy out of the bushes. His arms are tied behind his back.

"You!" He glares.

"Me." She shoves him down the street.

 

Buffy is pushing Claw Guy down the sidewalk in front of her. Giles, Trinity, and Willow follow. "Come on! Come on, where is she? Which house is it? I know you're afraid of her, I saw you! Come on!" Buffy yells. Claw Guy begins to react to Natalie's presence. "Come on. What? What is it? This is her, isn't it, this is her house? This is it! Better than radar!" She lets go of him. Claw Guy cuts the ropes with his blades.

"Buffy!" Trinity yells.

He swings at Buffy, but she leans back in time, only to trip and fall backward over the miniature picket fence running along the walk to the house. Claw Guy jumps to follow. She crawls backward on her butt until she hits the fence on the other side of the lawn. She rips a picket from the fence and thrusts it into Claw Guy as he takes another swing at her. He falls over dead. Giles breathes a sigh of relief.

 

Natalie advances on Xander. "Kiss me!" She laughs. "Kiss me!"

"Can I just say one thing?" He asks. "HEEEELLLLP! HEEEELLLLP!"

Buffy smashes the basement window and slides in.

"Uh, hey, o-over here, hello! In the cage!" Blayne calls.

She pulls her bag though the window. "Let him go!" She orders running down the stairs and sets the bag down. Willow and Trinity climb in the window as well. Buffy pulls two cans of insect spray from the bag and sprays Natalie in the face. Giles climbs in as the girls run behind Buffy to open the cage. The spray disorients Natalie. Giles comes down the stairs now too. Buffy points him at Xander.

"Help me! Help me!" Blayne yells.

"Get them outta here!" She pulls the tape recorder and a machete from her bag.

"Hey, help me! Help me!"

Giles undoes the leather straps holding Xander. Natalie retreats to the back of her nest.

Buffy starts to close in on her. "Remember Dr. Gregory? You scarfed his head? Yeah, well, he taught me, you do your homework, you learn stuff. Like what happens to your nervous system when you hear this!" She plays the tape. It's Giles' voice. Buffy stares at the machine in disbelief.

"... _.extremely important to file not simply alphabetically..."_  


She turns to him. "Giles!"

He on the floor, pointing at Natalie. "I-it's the wrong side!"

Natalie knocks the tape recorder and machete from Buffy's hands. Giles watches the recorder fly over him, hit the ground and slide under a refrigerator. He scrambles to get it. Buffy turns her attention back on Natalie.

Trinity hisses and swings her claws at the mantis, who begins to advance on her but Xander sprays a can of bug spray into her face.

Buffy pushes them way from danger, and Natalie takes the opportunity to knock her down. Buffy raises herself onto her hands and one leg, and with the other does two crouching side kicks to Natalie's legs to keep her at bay. Giles searches under the refrigerator. Buffy kicks again. She sees the machete on the floor and grabs it. Giles has the recorder now, jumps around on the floor with the recorder in front of him and plays the tape. The sounds of bat sonar severely hurt and disorient Natalie. She flails her claws around.

"Bat sonar. Makes your whole nervous system go to Hell. You can go there with it!" She slashes at Natalie fiercely and repeatedly with the machete, hacking her to pieces. She's winded afterward. Giles gets up. Willow runs over to Xander. Blayne is out of his cage. They look at the carnage.

"Well, I... I'd say it's deceased." Giles says.

Trinity nods. "And dissected."

Xander turns to Buffy. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She says.

"Just for the record, you were right, I'm an idiot, and God bless you!" Buffy lowers her head. He turns to the others. "And thank you guys, too."

"Yeah, really!" Blayne nods.

"Pleasure." Giles says.

"I'm really glad you're okay. It's so unfair how she only went after virgins." Willow tells them.

Xander laughs and looks back and forth between the girls. "What?"

"I mean, here you guys are, doing the right thing, the smart thing, when a lot of other boys your age..."

"Flag down on that play, babe. I am _not_ -" Blayne says but Trinity interrupts him.

"She only eats virgins." She says.

"Well, you see, that's the She-Mantis' modus operandi. Uh, she only preys on the pure." Giles elaborates.

"Well, isn't this a perfect ending to a wonderful day!" Xander says sarcastically.

"My dad's a lawyer. Anyone repeats this to anybody, they're gonna find themselves facing a lawsuit."

"Blayne! Shut up!"

"I don't think it's bad, I think it's really..." Willow hesitates when Xander holds up the machete. "Sweet! It's certainly nothing I'll ever bring up again."

Xander takes the machete over to Natalie's nest, looks it over and starts hacking away at it.

 

At the Bronze, Buffy is at the bar wearing Angel's jacket. Angel comes up behind her. Buffy senses him and looks up at him.

He smiles. "I heard a rumor there was, uh, one less vampire walking around making a nuisance of himself."

"There is. Guess I should thank you for the tip." She tells him.

"Pleasure's mine."

"Course, it would make things easier if I knew how to get in touch with you."

"I'll be around."

"Or who you were?" Angel just smiles and moves around to the other side of her. "Well...anyway, you can have your jacket back."

"It looks better on you." He turns and leaves. Buffy stares after him. Angel gives another look back and disappears into the crowd.

"Oh boy." She whispers to herself.

 

In science class the next day, there's a new science teacher.

"All midterm papers will be exactly six pages long. No more, no less. One third of your grade will be dependent on those papers. No more, no less." He explains as Buffy daydreams.

The bell rings. Buffy comes back to Earth. Everyone gets up and leaves. On the way out Buffy sees Dr. Gregory's glasses still on the lab bench where she left them. She picks them up and remembers him. She sees Dr. Gregory's jacket still hanging on the hook on the closet door and goes over to put the glasses in a pocket. She closes the door, missing the cluster of She-Mantis eggs attached underneath the lower shelf. One of the eggs hatch.


	5. Never Kill a Boy on the First Date

In the cemetery, Buffy is watching Trinity fight a vampire. She kicks him in the face with a high roundhouse kick, forcing him to step backward to keep his balance. The vampire does a jumping half-twisting crescent kick, knocking her to the ground.

Buffy intervenes and pulls him away. He tries two punches, and Buffy neatly blocks them. On his third punch she grabs hold of his arm and hits him in the face with a high front snap kick. Letting go of the vampire's arm, Buffy punches him squarely in the midsection and follows up with a swinging punch to his face, sending him to the ground.

"We haven't been properly introduced." She pulls out a stake. "I'm Buffy, and you're history!" She plunges the stake into him as he gets up. He falls and bursts into ashes. She walks over to Trinity and helps her from the ground. "You have to stop leaving your guard open."

Giles pops up from behind a crypt. "Poor technique." He comes around to the girls. "Prioritizing, sub-par...execution was adequate, but a bit too bloody for my taste."

Buffy rolls her eyes. "Giles, don't mention it. It was my  _pleasure_ to make the world safe for humanity again."

"I'm not saying that your methods are without merit, it's, uh, y-you're spending too much time and energy. It should simply be; plunge, and move on. Plunge and..." He notices something on the ground. "Hello." He bends over to pick up a ring with his pen."

Buffy sees the ring. "Oh, that's great! I kill 'em, you fence their stuff."

"What is it?" Trinity asks.

"I don't know." He says.

"But it bothers you." Buffy states.

"Yes! Well, I...I thought this vampire was just on a random kill, but it may be something else."

"Something big?" Trinity asks.

"Yes. I'd best consult my books."

 

The Master slams a book down on his lectern. He opens it and reads. "'And there will be a time of crisis, of worlds hanging in the balance. And in this time shall come the Anointed, the Master's great warrior. And the Slayer will not know him, will not stop him, and he will lead her into Hell.' As it is written, so shall it be." He picks up the book and walks. "'Five will die, and from their ashes the Anointed shall rise. The Brethren of Aurelius shall greet him and usher him to his immortal destiny.'" He stops by one of the brethren. "As it is written, so shall it be. 'And one of the brethren shall go out hunting the night before and get himself killed, because he couldn't wait to finish his job before he ate.' Oh, wait." He grabs one of the brethren by the throat. "That's not written anywhere." He lifts the vampire off his feet. "The Anointed will be my greatest weapon against the Slayer! If you fail to bring him to me, if you allow that girl to stop you..." He throws the vampire into a coffin. "Here endeth the lesson." He slams the book shut and walks off.

 

Buffy walks Trinity home. "I did good right?" Trinity asks. "For a first time?"

Buffy nods. "You still have a lot to learn."

Trinity stuffs her hands into her pockets as they walk. "Thanks again...for training me."

"I admit that I was a little skeptical at first, but you have a lot of potential." They fall into silence as they turn a corner. "So your parents never wig about you being out all the time? Your schedule has been pretty flexible."

Trinity takes a moment to answer. "It's easy when you live alone. I'm an orphan."

Buffy stops walking, causing Trinity to stop and look at her. "I'm sorry."

Trinity shrugs. "You didn't know." They continue walking. "It's not really something I talk about much."

"Can I ask how..."

"Did they die?" Trinity finishes. "It was a car accident when I was three."

"You said you lived alone. Are you emancipated?"

Trinity nods. "Have been for almost a year. My parents were  _crazy_ planners; they had everything set up in case something ever happened to them. Everything was taken care of, money, education, who I'd be living with...I don't remember much about them but they were good." She blinks the tears away.

"What about your guardian? Were they family?"

Trinity shakes her head. "I don't have any other family. They left me in the care of a trusted friend; Carter. He took care of me; made sure I had anything I ever wanted. He was great."

"Why did you get emancipated?"

"He, uh...he didn't know about me...or my parents. He didn't know that we weren't human. I was okay when I was younger but as I started growing up, things started to get harder."

"How?"

"Well, at home is where I feel most comfortable, but I was never really able to be  _myself._ " As she says that her tail creeps out. Buffy watches it swing back and forth for a moment. "It didn't feel comfortable anymore. Imagine having to where a school uniform, but you're not allowed to take it off when you go home."

"So it was major uncomfortable."

Trinity nods. "The older I got, the more secrets there were. We just ended up drifting apart. I became more independent, he started to spend more time I work...it eventually became too much. I filed for emancipation. The look on his face when I told him...it was like a break up, a divorce. It was hard, but it was a good thing for him. He gets to have his own life now."

"Do you guys still talk?"

"Every now and then we check up on each other. He's in Vermont now. I think he's met someone. I'm happy for him." She says with a small smile. "I finally get to stretch my feline legs and it's a lot easier now when I-" She stops.

Buffy looks at her. "When you what?"

"When I...go into heat." She reveals. "It's easier when I have no one around me."

Buffy looks at her, eyes wide. "Wow." She says.

"Yeah." Trinity sighs and looks out a house. She stops. "Well, this is me."

Buffy looks at the home. "Pretty."

"Thanks." Trinity brushes her hair away from her face. "If you ever need a quick getaway or just need to be out of your house...you're welcome here."

Buffy looks at her. "Really?"

Trinity nods. "Really. You've been helping me a lot, it's only right if I do something in return."

"You don't have to-"

"I want to." Trinity interrupts her. "It's one of the only ways I can show my gratitude without showering you in expensive gifts that you most likely won't accept."

Buffy smiles at her. "Thank you."

"No problem." Trinity starts walking backwards up the walkway. "Get home safe." She says. "We'll see what Giles found tomorrow."

Buffy watches her go inside before continuing on her way home.

 

The next morning, Buffy sits in the library, studying the ring. Trinity sits across from her, flipping through a book.

Giles makes his way down to her from the stacks while leafing through a book. "That symbol on the ring...I believe it's the rune for fidelity, but, uh, it doesn't connect with any of the sects that I've studied."

"What about this?" She shows him the ring. "On the inside. It's a sun and three stars. Haven't we seen that somewhere?"

"Let me see." He takes the ring, getting a closer look. "No, I-I don't think this, um, represents any..."

"Wait, it's right here." Trinity says. "Sun and three stars." She shows Buffy the picture.

"Yuck!" The girl says. "Check these guys out." She hands Giles the open book. "Told you it looked familiar."

Giles sees the page. "Oh, the Order of Aurelius. Yes, you're right."

"Ooh, two points for the Slayer and neko, while the Watcher has yet to score!" She says. A boy walks into the library and Buffy slides off the table. "Owen! Hi!"

Giles looks up at Owen. "What do you want?"

"A book?" The boy says.

"Oh!" Giles says.

Buffy looks at him. "See, this is a school, and we have students, and they check out books, and then they learn things."

"I was beginning to suspect that was a myth."

"I lost my Emily. Dickinson." Owen tells him. "It's dumb, but I like her around. Kind of a security blanket."

"I have something like that." Buffy says awkwardly. Trinity hides a smile behind her hand. "Well, it's an actual blanket. Uh, and I don't really carry it around anymore...so! Emily Dickens, huh? She's great!"

"Dickinson." Trinity corrects.

"She's good also."

Giles points to the stacks. "Poetry."

Owen looks at Buffy "I didn't think I'd find you here." He says, heading up the stairs.

Buffy follows after him. "W-why not?"

"I, I didn't mean...I mean...I think you can read."

"Thanks."

"But you don't seem bookwormy." He finds the book. "The type of person to lock themselves in a dark room with a lot of musty old books." He looks up from the book. "Oh, and I've offended you."

"No! No, I'm just surprised you gave any thought to what I'm like."

"You shouldn't be." They walk down the stairs.

"Oh, well, I  _love_ books. I mean, really  _love_ books."

Owen sees the book they were consulting earlier on the table and heads over there to take a look. "What's this?"

Trinity picks up the book and closes it. "Not this one. This one she doesn't love."

Giles takes wen's book and heads to the checkout station. "Oh, Emily Dickinson."

"We're both fans." Buffy smiles.

"Yes, uh, she's quite a good poet, I mean for a..." He takes Owen's library card.

"A girl?"

"For an American." He scans the book and library card.

Owen looks at Buffy. "I'll, uh, see you in math...if I open my eyes at some point." He takes the card and book from Giles.

"Cool..." Buffy smiles, watching him leave.

Once he's gone, Giles continues their conversation. "The Order of Aurelius is a very old and venerated sect. If they're here, it's for a good reason."

"That was Owen!"

"Yes, I remember."

"Do you have any more copies of Emily Dickinson? I need one."

Giles sighs, exasperated. "Buffy, while the mere fact of you wanting to check out a book would be grounds for a national holiday, I think we should focus on the problem at hand."

"Right. I'm sorry, you're right. Vampires." She looks down at her dress. "Oh." She looks back up. "Does this outfit make me look fat?"

Trinity sighs and puts a hand on Buffy's shoulder. "That's all we're going to get from her." She tells Giles. "We'll be in class." She steers Buffy towards the door.

 

In the cafeteria, Buffy, Willow, and Trinity are paying for lunch.

"Owen Thurman was talking to you?" Willow asks.

Buffy nods. "It's all true."

"Wow! He hardly talks to anyone. He's solitary, mysterious...he can brood for forty minutes straight, I've clocked him."

"He was so nice, it was eerie."

"What did you guys have to talk about?" They walk towards a table.

"Emily Dickinson." Trinity says.

"He reads Emily Dickinson? He's sensitive, yet manly." She looks at Buffy as they sit down. "Well, wait, you've never even read her." Buffy pulls out the book and sets it down for Willow to see. "You vixen!"

Xander holds up his fork. "Has anybody given any thought to what this green stuff is?"

Trinity sniffs it and shakes her head. "Even I can't tell."

"I think it's kale, or possibly string cheese." He lets the fork drop. "So, how'd the slaying go last night?" He asks a little too loudly.

Buffy gives him a stern look. "Xander!"

"I mean, how'd the  _laying_  go?" He tries to cover. Trinity snorts and covers her mouth. "No, I don't mean that either."

"It went fine, thank you. There's some new hoidy-toidy vampire sect in town."

"That's bad." Willow says.

"Well, hey, they're bringing in the much needed tourist dollars." Xander sees Owen. "Ooh, look at Mr. Excitement."

Buffy turns to look. "Owen! He's all alone. Maybe somebody should sit with him."

Willow nods. "Mm, just to be polite. Good luck!" Buffy begins to head over.

Xander looks at Willow. "Okay, what just happened?"

Buffy walks over to Owen's table.

Cordelia is coming over as well from another direction. "Look, an empty seat!" She bumps into Buffy, who spills her tray.

"Oh! Ew..."

Owen stands from his seat. "Let me get that." He bends down.

"Thanks!" Buffy smiles, crouching as well. "Boy, Cordelia's hips are wider than I thought!" She jokes.

"Eh-heh." Cordelia laughs sarcastically.

"At least you don't have to eat your Soylent Green." Owen says.

"Owen, a bunch of us are loitering at the Bronze tonight. You there?" Cordelia asks.

He looks at her. "Who's all going?"

"Well, um, I'm gonna be there." She smiles flirtatiously.

"Who else?"

She looks at him, confused. "You mean besides me?"

He turns to Buffy. "Buffy, what about you?"

"What?" She asks.

Cordelia shakes her head. "No, no, no! She, uh, she doesn't like fun."

Owen ignores her. "How 'bout we meet there at eight?"

Buffy smiles. "Yeah! Eight! There!" She puts her empty tray on top of Cordelia's.

 

Buffy, Willow, and Trinity walk through the hallway.

"It's not that big a deal." Buffy tells them, feigning nonchalance. "It's just a bunch of people getting together."

"It's a very big deal!" Willow smiles.

"It's not."

"It is." Trinity nods.

Willow sees Giles. "Tell her!"

"I'm afraid it's very big." He says.

Willow smiles at Buffy. "Thank you!" She turns back to Giles, confused. "Wait." They follow Giles into the library. "What are you talking about?"

He looks at her. "What are  _you_ talking about?"

"Boys!" The girls answer, though Trinity not as enthusiastically as Buffy and Willow.

"Yes, well, I'm talking about trouble. A violent and disturbing prophecy is about to be fulfilled."

"The Order of Aurelius." Trinity says.

He nods and looks at Buffy. "You were spot-on about the connection." He walks over to the table. "I've looked at the writings of Aurelius himself, and he, he prophesied that the brethren of his order would come to the Master and bring him the Anointed."

"Who's that?" Willow asks.

"Well, I-I don't know exactly, a-a-a-a warrior, but, but it says he will rise from the ashes of the Five on the evening of the thousandth day after the Advent of Septus."

"Well, we'll be ready whenever it is." Buffy says.

"Which is tonight."

She nods. "Tonight, okay..." She realizes what he said. "Not okay! It can't be tonight!"

"My calculations are precise."

"Nuh! They're bad calculations! Bad!"

"Buffy has a really important date." Willow tells him.

Buffy nods. "Owen!"

"Alright, I-I'll just jump in my time machine, go back to the twelfth century and ask the vampires to postpone their ancient prophecy for a few days while you take in dinner and a show." He says.

"Okay, at this point you're abusing sarcasm."

"Buffy, this is no ordinary vampire. But we have to stop him before he reaches the Master."

"I'll go." Trinity says.

Giles shakes his head. "This is a job for the Slayer and you're not nearly trained enough to handle this."

Buffy pouts. "But...cute guy! Teenager! Post-pubescent fantasies!"

"Those will just have to be put on hold! The dark forces are aligning against us, and we have a chance to beat them back. Tonight we go into battle!"

 

Giles and Buffy are sitting on a large gravestone.

Giles sniffs. "Perhaps I miscalculated."

"I'm thinking yes." She sucks her drink dry.

"Well, you know what they say. Ninety percent of the vampire slaying game is, is waiting."

"You couldn't have told me that ninety percent ago?"

"Well, we, we've certainly waited here long enough." He gets up.

"Besides, there aren't any fresh graves. Who's gonna rise?"

"Apparently no one tonight."

Buffy jumps up. "Then I can bail? I can go to the Bronze and find Owen?"

He sighs. "Oh, very well then. Follow your hormones if you want." She starts to leave. "But I assume I don't have to warn you about the hazards of becoming personally involved with someone who's unaware of your unique condition."

"Yeah, yeah, I read the back of the box."

"If your identity as the Slayer is revealed it could put you and all those around you in grave danger."

"Well, in that case I won't wear my button that says, 'I'm a Slayer. Ask me how!'" Giles shoots her a look. "Good night." She leaves.

"'Five shall die, and from their ashes the Anointed shall rise.'" Giles mutters to himself. "I was sure it was tonight."

 

A bus, the passengers ride in silence.

A little boy; Collin speaks. "I went on an airplane."

"A pale horse emerged with death as its rider. You will be judged. You will be judged." Andrew says, gaining strange looks from the passengers.

 

Buffy walks into the Bronze and looks around for Owen. The band; Three Day Wheely plays.

... _is real_  


_Then you wake up shouting some familiar name_

_It's not the same_

Buffy sees Owen dancing with Cordelia. She looks on, crushed by the sight of them together.

_You're just a girl_

_Just a girl who knows no shame_

_Whose desperate pace has lost its taste_

_A never-ending darkness weighs_

_I can't avoid, I can't complain_

_I know exactly who's to blame_

_The girl who shares my..._

 

Andrew stands in the bus aisle. "That day's gonna bring fire. Fire comin' down! Judgment!" He turns to Collin and his mother. "Don't think you're ready, ready to look upon him. If there's sin in there, there's sin all around. It's a liquid. On that day there won't be anybody tellin' us what to do or why we're doin' it. You can't prepare. On that day..."

The driver looks in the mirror. "Hey, you gotta sit down. Okay?"

"Are you willing to stand with the righteous?"

One of the brethren steps in front of the bus. The driver hits the brakes and slams into the vampire. The bus begins to swerve, runs through a sign and hits a pole, which brings it to a stop.

The driver looks back at the passengers. "Is everyone okay?" The passengers look at each other. They all seem shaken but okay. The driver gets out, checking on the victim. "Are you all right?" He kneels down beside him. "Can you move?"

The vampire grabs him by the throat and begins choking him. Another one punches through a window, grabs Andrew by the throat, pulls him out and bites him. The vampires all climb into the bus to get the other people.

 

Buffy slams her locker shut and leans against it.

"So you just went home?" Trinity asks.

"What was I supposed to do? Say to Owen, 'Sorry I was late, I was sitting in a cemetery with the librarian waiting for a vampire to rise so I could prevent an evil prophecy from coming to pass?'"

Xander weighs options with his hands the options with his hands. "Or a flat tire?"

They start walking down the hall. "I can't take this anymore." Buffy sighs. "I feel like everyone is staring at me, the big, hideous, dateless monster." She looks at a passing student. "What? Yeah, that's right, I have no life, c'mon, nothin' to see here, pal, move it along!"

"You're acting a little overly, aren't you? I mean, you could have any guy in school."

"He's not any guy. He's more...Oweny."

"Sure, he's got a certain Owenosity, but that's not hard to find." They reach his locker. "I mean, a lotta guys read." He says with a goofy smile. "I can read."

"Comic don't count." Trinity tells him.

Buffy leans against the locker, looking down when Owen comes up to her.

"Hey, Buffy!" He greets.

"Owen!" She smiles.

"Oh, look, it's Owen." Xander mutters to himself but Buffy hears and shoots him a look. "Buffy and Owen. And Xander. That'd be me."

"W-where were you last night?" Owen asks.

"Oh. Well, um, my watch broke and we don't have any clocks in our house and so I didn't know what time it was or even what day it was..." Buffy trails off, inwardly cringing at her excuse.

"I thought I was the only one that happened to. How 'bout we try it again for tonight? I'll even lend you my watch." He hands her his gold pocket watch and chain. Xander looks at the watch, eyes wide in amazement.

Buffy accepts it. "Tonight? Y-you and me?"

Xander looks at his Tweety-Bird wristwatch and Trinity covers it with her hand, shaking her head at him.

"Well, we could invite the chess club, but they drink and they start fights..." Owen jokes.

"Oh, no, it's just...well, I...sort of heard that...you and Cordelia were...somewhat...all over each other. A little..."

"I danced with her a couple of times." He face scrunches in distaste. "She's kinda grabby."

"Oh, well, let's see, if I rearrange that, and I push that to...sure! Tonight'll work!" She smiles.

"Great! I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Um, seven!"

"That's when the little hand's." He points on the pocket watch. "There."

"Oh! Between the six and the eight."

"Um, I'll see you then!" He walks away.

Buffy watches him go, a smile still on her face. "Tonight! Isn't that so?"

"What?" Xander asks.

"Me and Owen." She says dreamily before walking off.

Xander sighs. "Yeah, so it is." He closes his locker. "It sure is so." He turns to Trinity. "Is it me?"

"No." She shakes her head. "You're great."

"What does Owen have that I don't?"

She shrugs. "Some girls are attracted to mystery."

"So I should be more mysterious?"

"You shouldn't change yourself." She tells him. "You're that guy in the background."

"Thank you." He says sarcastically.

"Let me finish. While girls go through their 'I want a dark, mysterious, bad boy' phase; they don't notice the good guy in the background. The one that wears his heart on his sleeve, who knows how to make them laugh, who always has their back."

"Really?" Xander smiles.

She nods. "And usually they don't notice the good guy until he finds someone else. Someone that truly makes them happy." She looks at him. "So even if it doesn't work out with Buffy, it's not over for you. You're a great guy and girls are going to realize that."

He throws an arm over her shoulders. "And all shall bow before my manliness." He jokes, making her laugh. He looks at her. "Thanks."

She smiles. "Any time."

 

Giles rubs his forehead as her researches.

Buffy burst into his office. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Uh, alright." He says.

"That's great! I see we're still working on that Anointed One problem, that'll probably take you a few days, right? I mean, that's one obscure prophecy."

"Well, yes, there are a few interpretations-"

"So tonight's looking slow, right? Probably best to relax and regroup, no big disasters coming, that is  _so_  good, I will see you tomorrow then! Bye!" She quickly leaves.

Giles watches after her. "She is the strangest girl."

 

The Master looks at the brethren. "You have done well. Everything is in place. When this night's work is done, I will have a mighty ally. I'll be one step closer to freeing myself from this... mystical prison." He feels his confines. "I've been trapped down here so long I've nearly forgotten what it's like on the surface. Well, there'll be time enough to remember... when I rule it! If she tries to stop you, kill her. Give your own lives, but do not fail to bring the Anointed. I know you won't disappoint me." He quickly grabs a fly from the air. "Bug!"

 

Buffy stands in her bathrobe. Willow helps her decide on an outfit. "Pick."

Buffy turns to Xander and Trinity, who watch from the bed. "Okay." Willow holds up one dress in front of her. "Do I wanna appear shy, coy, and naïve or..." Willow holds up another. "Unrestrained, insatiable, and aggressive."

"Uh, y'know, Owen is a little home spun." Xander stands up. "He probably doesn't like that overly assertive look." He goes to her closet. "Oh, hey, here's something. A nice comfy overcoat and a ski cap!" He holds them up to her. "The earflaps will bring out your eyes."

Buffy and Willow exchange a look before looking at Trinity. "What do you think?"

"Mix them. If you dress too safe, he'll think you're boring; if you dress too aggressive, he'll think you're easy."

Buffy nods and picks up two lipsticks from her desk. She turns to Xander. "Okay, guy's opinion; which one do you think Owen will like better? The red or the peach?"

"Oh, you mean for kissing you and then telling all his friends how easy you are so the whole school loses respect for you and then talks behind your back?" He asks. "The red's fine."

"Thanks. I'll go with the peach." She puts on the lipstick.

Willow hands Buffy a third dress. "Here, put this on." They look at Xander.

"You're not bothering me." He says.

Trinity sighs and stands from the bed. She walks over to Xander and pushes him away. They turn around, facing away from the girls.

"So, where's he taking you?" Willow asks.

"Oh, I don't know. Where do you suppose young kids go on dates these days?" Buffy says, untying her bathrobe.

Xander goes over to her drawer chest and tries to angle the mirror inside a box so he can see. Trinity walks up to him and smacks in upside the head, pulling him away from the box.

"Well, I read somewhere once that sometimes they go to movies." Willow says.

Buffy finishes putting on her dress. "Movies! Interesting!"

"And I saw on TV once, a bunch of people our age went to a party."

"Wow! I never knew being a teenager was so full of possibilities!" Buffy pulls on her boots. The doorbell rings and she jumps up. "That's Owen!"

 

Buffy opens the door and her smile falls. "That's Giles."

"We need to talk." He tells her.

"Buffy's not home." She tries to close the door but Giles pushes it open and comes in. "My calculations may not have been as far off as I thought." He holds up a newspaper.

"'Five Die in Van Accident'?" She reads.

"'Out of the ashes of five shall rise the one'. That's the prophecy. Five people have died!

"In a car crash."

"I know it doesn't quite follow, but, but it's worth investigating. Look! Among the dead was Andrew Borba, whom the police sought for questioning in a double murder. Now, he may be the Anointed One. The, the bodies have been taken to, to Sunnydale Funeral Home, w-we can-"

"Giles, why do you wanna hurt me?"

"I beg your pardon?"

Owen shows up at the open door. "Hey!" He walks in and sees Giles. "Uh, hi?"

Giles looks at him and turns back to Buffy. "You have a date?"

"Yes, but I will return those overdue books by tomorrow." Buffy says, ending the previous conversation.

Giles frowns. "Wait, you're not getting off that easily."

"Man, you really care about your work." Owen says.

"Uh, Owen?" Willow calls.

Xander nods. "Yeah, a couple of things about tonight."

Willow, Trinity, and Xander lead Owen into the living room.

"Another date? Don't you ever do anything else?" Giles asks.

Buffy rolls her eyes. "This is the first date! There's never been a date, okay? This is my maiden voyage!"

 

"What, she doesn't like to dance?" Owen asks.

"Well, it's a little too late to do anything about that. Uh, you should probably know that Buffy doesn't like to be kissed. Actually she doesn't like to be touched."

"Xander!" Willow says. Trinity rolls her eyes at her friends attempt to sabotage Buffy's date.

"As a matter of fact, don't even look at her."

 

"We don't even know if this is anything." Buffy says.

"No, we don't."

"And I haven't had a day off in a while."

"True."

"And a cranky Slayer is a careless Slayer!"

Giles sighs. "Buffy, maintaining a normal social life as a Slayer... i-i-is problematic at best."

"This is the 90's. The 1990's, in point of fact, and I can do both. Clark Kent has a job. I just wanna go on a date."

"Well, I, I suppose it was a fairly slim lead..."

She gives him a pleased smile. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! And look, I won't go far, okay? If the apocalypse comes, beep me."

Owen comes back. "Is everything cool?"

Buffy nods. "All set."

"Yes, and, uh, you'll face a pretty hefty fine in the morning." Giles tells her.

"Well, bye. Don't wait up." She leaves with Owen.

Willow looks at Giles. "Is something going on?"

"Oh, uh, probably not, no. I, uh, I suppose I'll just, uh, go to the funeral home in case, just see if anything comes up." He leaves.

"This is bad." Willow says, concerned.

"I wish it was just bad." Xander says.

Trinity picks up her jacket. "We should go along."

"Yeah, you're right. I don't trust that Owen guy. It's the eyes. Crazy!"

"Xander, we should go with Giles!" Willow says. "He could get in trouble!"

"Oh, he's gone, uh, it's, he's gonna be alright. He's like super librarian, y'know? Everyone forgets, Willow, that knowledge is the ultimate weapon."

"Not if he's right about the prophecy." Trinity says.

"What?"

"If he's right, then the Master's right hand man is supposed to rise tonight."

 

Owen and Buffy sit at a table while Velvet Chain plays.

_I'll be right along_

_'Cause, baby, you're so strong_

"The thing about Emily Dickinson I love is, is she's just so incredibly morbid. A lot of loss, a lot of death...it gets me. With a lot about bees, for some reason." Owen says.

"Did she have a tragic and romantic life? With a lotta bees?" Buffy asks.

"Quiet. Kind of sequestered and uneventful. Which I can really relate to. I... don't get out much."

"I don't get that."

"It's my fault. I just find most girls pretty frivolous. I mean, there's a lot more important things in life than dating, y'know?" He sees Buffy looks down at her beeper. "Oh. Did I say something wrong?"

"Uh, no! Come on." She leads Owen to the dance floor.

_Baby, baby, I know it's always been so_

_Physical love is, oh, so meaningful for you_

Buffy and Owen dance close.

"It's weird." He says.

"What is?" She asks.

"You. One minute you're right there. I've got you figured. The next, it's like you're two people."

"Really? Which one do you like better?"

"I'll let you know."

_So strong_

_Baby, I'm yours_

_You know_

_Because you're so_

_So strong_

Cordelia walks into the Bronze with her friends and sees Buffy with Owen. "Aren't there laws against this sort of thing?" She walks over to them. "Owen! Look at you, here all alone."

_You're so, so strong_

He looks at her. "Cordelia, I'm here with Buffy."

"Oh! Okay. Do you wanna dance?"

"No, I'm still here with Buffy."

"You are so good to help the needy."

"Cordelia, Owen and I would like to be alone right now, and for that to happen, you would have to go somewhere that's away." Buffy tells her.

Cordelia glares at her and turns her attention back to Owen. "Well, when you're ready for the big leagues, let me know." She walks away.

_You would suffer, suffer for me_

 

Giles drives to the Sunnydale Funeral Home. He slings a bag over his shoulder as he gets out. He looks around and continues towards the building but stops when a chill runs up his spine. He looks around again but sees nothing. As he turns back he sees one of the Brethren in front of him and starts to back away but another is behind him. "Damn." He curses and pulls a cross from his bag. He holds it up and they cower away in pain. He makes a dash for the building.

Giles looks around and puts his cross back into his bag. He runs to the flower room door and finds it locked. The brethren come into the building after him.

 

_I have a window in my mind_

_I can turn to look right through you_

"Are you, uh, having fun?" Owen asks.

Buffy nods. "Yeah. I almost feel like a girl."

_Won't cost you anything but time_

_To see me feel like you do_

They smile at each other and continue to dance.

 

Giles finds the door to the morgue unlocked and rushes in. He slams the door behind him and looks around. He grabs a filing cabinet, tilts it and drags it over to block the door. It works, the brethren can't readily open it. Giles looks around for a way out. The windows are barred. He sees Willow, Trinity, and Xander through the bars. "Ah!"

They raise the window sash. "Giles, it us!" Willow says.

"What are you doing here?"

"We saw two guys going in after you." Xander tells him. "Are they...?"

Giles looks at the door. "They are." He turns back. "Uh, listen, you should get to safety."

"Can you get out this window?" Willow asks.

He tests the bars. "I'm afraid not."

"Trinity?" Willow asks.

Trinity pulls on the bars and shakes her head. "This looks like a job for Buffy."

"Uh, she has her, her...beeping thing!" Giles says, looking around. "Um, no phone, of course."

"Look, we'll get her, just, uh, hang in there." Xander says and they leave.

 

Owen and Buffy are standing by the stairs.

"Do you want something to eat?" He asks.

She nods. "Sure. Just make it something fattening."

Cordelia looks on from the shadows by the door. "What a disgusting display. Is that really appropriate behavior in a public forum? I mean, I've never seen a girl throw herself at a guy like that. Ugh!" She complains to her friends before seeing Angel walk in. "Ooh, hello salty goodness!" She turns to her friends. "Pick up the phone, call 911. That boy is gonna need some serious oxygen after I'm through with him." She starts after him but stops when she sees him go over to Buffy.

"Buffy." He greets.

She looks at him. "Angel."

"Why is this happening to me?" Cordelia mutters to herself.

"I was hoping I'd find you here." He says.

"You were?" Buffy asks.

"Some serious stuff happening tonight. You need to be out there."

"No, not you, too." She tries to leave but he stops her.

"What do you know?"

"Prophecy, Anointed One, yada, yada, yada."

"So you know. Fine. I just thought I'd warn you."

"Warn me? You see that guy over there at the bar?" She walks around him, looking at Owen. "He came here to be with me."

"You're here on a date?" He asks, hiding the hurt in his voice.

She turns to him. "Yes! Why is it such a shock to everyone?"

Owen returns. "Here you go."

She looks between Angel and Owen. "Um, Owen, this is Angel. Angel, this is Owen." She puts her arm around him. "Who is my date."

"Hey." Angel says.

"Hey! So...where do you know Buffy from?" He asks.

"Work."

He turns to Buffy. "You work?"

Willow and Xander run up to them, out of breath. "Buffy!"

"Look at this. You show up everywhere. Interesting." Owen says.

Xander points at him. "You don't know the half of it." He points to Angel. "What's he doing here?"

"I guess it's the same thing you're doin' here." Angel says.

"Uh, excuse me, what are  _any_ of you doing here?" Buffy asks.

"Look, we gotta get to, uh..." Xander trails off and Willow nudges him. "Uh...we thought it'd be fun if, uh, we made this a double date!" He and Willow wrap their arms around each other.

Buffy sends them a skeptical look. "I didn't know you guys were seeing each other."

"Oh, yeah, well, we knew it would happen eventually, so we figured, hey! Why fight it?" Willow says.

"And you guys are thinking double?" Owen asks.

Xander nods. "'Cause of..." He laughs nervously. "The fun!"

He turns to Angel. "And you're here because of work?"

"Hey, maybe we should all go somewhere together." Xander says.

"Gee, that's so nice of you to ask, but Owen and I were, well, sort of..." Buffy trails off. "Owen and I."

"You know what'd be cool? The Sunnydale Funeral Home!"

Willow nods. "I've always wanted to go there!"

"The funeral home?" Buffy asks.

Owen smiles. "Actually, that sounds kinda cool! Do you think we could all sneak in?"

"We saw some guys in there before." Xander looks at Buffy. "They seemed to be having fun!" He says pointedly.

"Bite me!" She mutters to herself. Angel sends her an 'I told you so' look. She sighs. "Um, Owen, I gotta go."

"I thought we were going to the funeral home." He says.

"No, you can't. I'll tell you what. I'll be back in a little while."

"Buffy..." He leads her away. "What's the deal? Do you wanna bail on me?"

"No! No. No...uh...you remember when you said I was like two different people? Well, one of them has to go. But the other one is having a really, really good time, and will come back. I promise."

Owen just nods his head and watches her go. She comes back and kisses him before heading away. He turns to Angel. "She's the strangest girl!"

 

Trinity walks down the stairs and sees Willow, Xander, and Buffy. "Great! You found her." They leave.

 

They walk through the front door of the funeral home.

"Which way?" Buffy asks.

"The room's around back." Willow says. They go off to their left and turn a corner, meeting a dead end.

Trinity turns around and sees Owen. "What the hell?" She says making the others turn around.

"This is so cool!" He says.

"Uh, Owen! You can't be here!" Buffy tells him.

"Oh, and I suppose you guys are allowed? What are we doin' here? Are we gonna see a dead body?"

"Possibly several." She turns to the others. "Guys, watch him." She runs back the way they came.

"Is she mad?"

"Oh, she just wants to make sure there're no guards so we don't get in trouble." Willow says.

"Good thinking."

"Good thinking." Trinity whispers to her as they start after Buffy.

 

Buffy quietly walks down the halls. She finds the morgue door open and goes in, the room is wrecked. "Giles?" She calls. His bag is on the autopsy gurney. The window bars are torn open. She finds his cross. Suddenly one of the doors to a body storage drawer opens in front of her, and the drawer rolls out. Buffy jumps back, startled. "Giles!"

"It  _is_ you. Oh, good." He sighs in relief.

"What happened?"

"Uh, two more of the brethren came in here. They came after me. But I was more than a match for them."

"Meaning...?"

"I hid. Uh, this, uh, chap was good enough to bunk with me till they went away." He jumps down off of the cadaver.

"Well, w-were they here after you, or w-was it that prophecy thing?"

"Ah, well, that's what we have to find out. I don't know what these brethren mean to do exactly. Find the Anointed, or, or, or, or give him something perhaps, uh, it's all, all very vague. And the Anointed may be long gone!"

"But he may not be."

"We must find out."

"Okay, I just need to get Owen and the others out of harm's way first."

He looks at her. "Owen? You brought a date?"

She sighs. "I didn't bring him, he came."

"Buffy, when I said you could slay vampires and have a social life, I didn't mean at the same time."

"I know. I'll get rid of him." She starts to leave.

"Y-you can't make him go out there alone, we don't know where the brethren are. I-I'll just..."

"No! No, Giles, he sees you, he's gonna have more questions than he already does right now. I'll take care of it." She runs out into the hall and looks around for the others. They come around a corner and see her.

"Is everything okay?" Willow asks.

"It is." She nods.

"And we'll be leaving?" Xander asks.

"We're not done lookin' around yet!" Owen says.

"No, he's right. So let's find a nice, safe, fun room to look around in." Buffy says taking Owen's hand. She leads them down a hall, to an office door.

"We tried the office here, but it's locked."

She breaks the lock. "No it's not." She goes in.

"Well, I don't think we'll find much in here."

She looks around. "That's the plan."

"Okay, what?" He asks, confused.

"I have to go now." She laughs nervously. "Um, to the bathroom, I have to go to the bathroom. If you hear anything, like a security guard or something, just be really quiet." She turns to the others. "And barricade the door." She says quietly.

She goes to leave but Trinity stops her. "I'm going with you."

"No."

"I can help."

"You need to stay here."

"Buffy-"

"You're the only one who can protect them. I need you here."

Trinity looks at her before nodding. "Okay." She says, letting Buffy leave and shuts the door.

 

Buffy and Giles start looking through the body drawers in the morgue, hoping to find the Anointed One.

She opens one. "Ew, parts!"

"Keep looking, he must be here somewhere." Giles says.

 

Willow, Trinity, and Xander start to pile furniture in front of the office door.

"What are you guys doing?" Owen asks.

"Uh, just in case!" Willow says.

Owen sees a curtain and draws it open. Behind the window he sees a body covered with a sheet. "Oh, my..."

The others turn around and look.

 

Giles opens the last drawer and Buffy pulls it out only to find it empty.

"Nothing." She says.

"The Anointed must be gone." Giles tells her.

"I guess. I mean, this is where they keep all the dead bodies, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

 

Owen looks at the body in fascination while Willow, Trinity, and Xander look on, worried. "I read a lot about death, but... but I've... never really seen a dead body before." He says. The body's hand moves. "Do they... usually move?"

Trinity, Willow, and Xander take a closer look. The hand reaches up and pulls the sheet off.

Andrew; now a vampire, sits up and faces them. He stands up, looks down at himself and flexes his hands. He looks back up at them. "I have been judged!"

"What's goin' on?" Owen asks as they slowly back away from the window.

Andrew walks closer and smashes the window with his forehead.

 

Buffy and Giles turn around, hearing glass shatter. "Oh, no." She starts running to the office.

 

Andrew laughs. "He is risen in me! He fills my head with song!"

Owen, Willow, Trinity, and Xander frantically begin moving the furniture away from the door.

Andrew steps through the opening. "Pork and beans. Pork and beans!"

"Gimme that." Xander takes a piece of furniture from Willow.

"I can smell you."

They finish moving the furniture and Trinity opens the door, letting the other run out before following after them.

Andrew follows at a quick pace. "You're the chaff, unblessed. I'll suck the blood from your hearts, he says I may!"

They run into Buffy. "He's in there." Xander points.

"Uh, go! Get out!" She says.

Owen lags but Trinity urges him on. "She'll be okay. C'mon!" They continue running.

Buffy tries to find Andrew. She can hear him singing as he comes down the hall toward her.

_Shall we gather at the river?_

_The beautiful, the beautiful river._

She decides to try to head him off another way.

 

Xander, Willow, Trinity, and Owen find the exit, but are blocked by the brethren. Willow screams. Xander pulls her around and behind himself. Trinity readies herself in a fighting stance. Instead of attacking, the brethren close the gates. The hall is empty, but they can hear Andrew singing.

"I think he's coming this way!" Willow says and they run only to find themselves at the same dead end as when they first go there.

"Oh god, this is too much!" Owen groans.

 

Buffy rushes into the morgue. "What've you got?"

Giles looks at her. "What?"

"What'd you bring? Do you have a stake?"

"Oh, uh..." He hands her a stake.

"Thank you!" She starts to leave.

"W-what should I do?"

She turns around. "Um, go outside and make sure the others are okay."

Andrew comes up behind Buffy, grabs her and throws her into a cabinet. She hits the floor, unconscious.

Giles rushes to her aid. "Buffy!"

 

"Somebody's gotta help Buffy!" Owen says and runs to the morgue.

"Owen!" Willow calls and they follow after them.

 

Buffy wakes up as Andrew approaches Giles.

"They told me about you while I was sleeping." He says. Giles holds up a cross and he backs away in pain. "Ugh! Why does he hurt me?" He slaps Giles' hand away, and the cross goes flying. He grabs Giles and throws him into the crematory controls. The fires in the chamber light. Giles falls to the floor, unconscious. Andrew bends down and picks Buffy up.

Owen runs in. "Buffy!" He sees Andrew raises her above his head. "No!" He grabs a tray and swings it into Andrew's back, stunning him.

His knees buckle and he lets go of Buffy. She staggers into an open body drawer door and falls down, unconscious. Andrew turns, grabs Owen by the neck and growls as he moves in to bite him.

Owen grabs an urn from a rack and smashes it over Andrew's head, knocking him to the floor. He goes over to Buffy and helps her up. "Did you see that? He tried to bite me! What a sissy."

Suddenly Andrew gets back up, grabs Owen and smashes a body drawer door into the back of his head. Owen's body goes limp.

"No!" Buffy yells.

"Dead." Andrew lets Owen fall. "He was found wanting."

Buffy gets him solidly in the gut with a front snap kick. He rolls over the autopsy gurney and onto the floor. She runs around to the far end of the gurney. Andrew quickly gets up. She pushes the gurney into his gut, and then pushes down on her end so it pivots up to hit him in the chin. He staggers back and falls. She jumps up onto the gurney and does a roundoff onto the floor as he gets up. He swings widely at Buffy's face, but she blocks it. He tries again with his other arm, hitting Buffy solidly in the face and knocking her to the ground. He taunts her as she quickly gets up.

"You killed my date!" She says.

Willow, Trinity, and Xander run in. Trinity sees Owen begin to move. "Buffy! Owen's-"

Xander puts a hand on her shoulder. "J-just give her a sec."

Buffy blocks another punch, and then hits Andrew in the face with an open-hand punch. Blocking a second punch from him, she hits him in the gut with another open-hand punch. As he leans forward from the pain, she knees him in the gut, and then shoves him backward into a counter. "You killed my date!" She says again. Giles regains consciousness.

Andrew turns back to Buffy. "Your turn!" He lunges at Buffy, but she sidesteps him and uses his forward momentum to launch him into the air. He lands on the gurney, and it rolls over to the crematory. The gurney stops when it hits, but Andrew continues to slide through the open door. Giles kicks the gurney away and slams the crematory door shut. Andrew screams. Buffy watches him burn through the small window. Then she notices Owen trying to sit up.

"Does anyone have an aspirin? Or sixty?" He groans.

Buffy goes to him. "Owen." She crouches beside him.

"What happened to that guy?"

"Oh...we scared him away."

"Oh, good. 'Cause, y'know, I would've-"

"I know. Here." She helps him up. "I'm sure this isn't exactly what you had in mind for our first date."

He rubs his head. "Yeah. I was hoping maybe we'd finish at Ben&Jerry's.

"We still could."

"No, I, I, I think I'll just walk home." He starts to go but stops. "Uh, which way's home?"

"I'll get you there."

"No, I'll...I'll go it alone."

Willow and Xander come over. "We'll make sure he gets home safely." He says and they lead him away. Buffy watches them go. Trinity glares at Owen's back.

Giles walks over to Buffy. "Buffy, if I might, uh-"

"Don't." She cuts him off and slowly walks out the room. Trinity shares a look with Giles before walking after her.

 

Buffy and Trinity walk down the street in silence. After a long moment Trinity speaks. "It'll happen for you, y'know."

Buffy looks at her. "What?"

"Love." She says. "It'll happen for you." Buffy shakes her head and looks ahead. Trinity sighs. "I know you don't want to hear this, but there are other fish in the sea. There are  _stronger_ fish in the sea. You're going to meet someone who can handle this life."

"Why do you think that?"

Trinity looks at her. "Because you're  _you_." She tells her. "You're not just Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You're a great daughter, friend, protector. You have all this pressure on you, yet you can smile and go along with your day like any other teenager. That's amazing."

"Thank you." Buffy says quietly. Trinity shrugs. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You're so sure that I'm going to find love. What about you?"

"I'm pretty sure I'll love anybody who doesn't freak out when they see my tail." She jokes, making them laugh.

"Really, what do you look for in a girl?"

She shrugs again. "She has to make me laugh. Know how to handle her own, she has to be fun...wild." She ducks her head. "I don't know."

"Seems pretty clear."

"I guess. We both have our problems. We just need to wait for that special someone who'll accept us." They stop at her house. "It'll get better."

"Yeah." Buffy nods.

"Goodnight."

"Night." They part ways.

 

At school the next day, Buffy, Willow, Trinity, and Xander walk along the balcony.

"Well, did Owen say anything about me on the way home?" Buffy asks.

"Oh, you mean specifically about you?" Willow says.

"Or generally...i-in the area, in the ballpark, any sort of indication?" They round the corner and start down the stairs.

"Well, in that case, no." Xander tells her.

"But he was pretty incoherent, so we might've missed it." Willow says, trying to lift Buffy's spirit.

"You think?" She asks.

"No." Xander says.

Buffy sighs. "I knew it. I totally blew it last night."

"No, see, what you need is a guy who already knows your deepest, darkest secrets and still says, 'Hey! I like that girl!' Someone like-"

"Owen!" She interrupts, seeing him walking up to her.

"Well." Willow laughs nervously. "This is our stop." She and Trinity walk away. Xander attempts to stay but Willow drags him along.

"Hi." Owen greets.

"Hi." Buffy smiles. They suffer an awkward pause. "This is going well."

"I don't really know how to say this, but...about last night-"

"You don't even have to. I'm sure you were pretty freaked out."

"Totally." He agrees. Buffy looks down. "And...I was wondering when I could see you again."

She looks back up. "Um, that was my hopeful ear. Could you repeat that?"

"I think you're the coolest!"

She smiles. "Really?"

"I mean, last night was incredible! I never thought nearly getting killed would make me feel so...alive!"

Her face falls and she starts to walk. "So that's why you wanna be with me."

He follows after her. "Oh, absolutely! When can we do something like that again?"

"Something like..."

"Like, walk downtown at three in the morning, a-and pick a fight in a bar. How about tonight?"

"Tonight would..." They stop walking. "Be...not a workable thing. Did I just say that?"

"Tomorrow, then. I-I'm free any night this week."

"I'm not. Please don't take this personally. It's not you, it's me."

His face falls. "Right. It's you."

"And I was kinda hoping that...maybe you and I could still be-"

"I-I get it. You just wanna be friends." He says, disappointed.

"That'd be nice."

"Friends. Yeah. Great." He leaves.

"Yeah. Great."

Giles comes up behind her. They watch Owen leave. Buffy notices Giles and looks at him. He's at a loss. She goes over to sit on a bench. Giles follows her. "I was ten years old when my father told me I was destined to be a Watcher." He sits next to her. "He was one, and his, uh, mother before him, and I was to be next."

"Were you thrilled beyond all measure?"

"No, I had very definite plans about my future. I was going to be a fighter pilot. Or possibly a grocer. Well, uh...my father gave me a very tiresome speech about, uh, responsibility and sacrifice."

"Sacrifice, huh?"

He looks towards Owen. "Seems like a nice lad."

"Yeah. But he wants to be danger man. You, Xander, Trinity, Willow, you guys...you guys know the score, you're careful. Two days in my world and Owen really  _would_ get himself killed. Or I'd get him killed." She turns towards him. "Or someone else."

"I, I went to the funeral home of my own free will."

"And I should've been there."

"Buffy-"

"I blew it!"

"I have volumes of lore, of prophecies, of predictions. But I don't have an instruction manual. We feel our way as we go along. And, I must say, as a Slayer, you're, you're doing...pretty well."

She smiles. "Well. At least I did stop that prophecy thing from coming true."

"You did! Handily. No more Anointed One. And I would imagine the Master, wherever he is, is having a fairly bad day himself." He smiles, making Buffy laugh.

 

The Master reads the scripture. "'And in this time will come the Anointed. And the Slayer will not know him. She will not stop him, and he will lead her into hell.'" He kneels down next to Collin. "Welcome, my friend."


	6. The Pack

At the Sunnydale Zoo, Buffy walks alone, looking at the signs around her. 'Reptiles', 'Elephants', and the 'Hyena House'.

A gang of trouble making students, Kyle, Rhonda, Tor, and Heidi spot her.

"Oh, look. It's Buffy and all her friends." Kyle jeers.

"That's a witty." Buffy deadpans.

"Do you ever wonder why nobody cool wants to hang out with you?" Tor asks.

Buffy shrugs. "Just thankful."

"Were you this popular at your old school? Before you got kicked out?" Rhonda asks. The group laughs before continuing on their way.

"Careful! She might beat you up!" Tor sneers at Buffy as they walk away.

 

Buffy reads the elephant plaque when Willow and Xander run up to her.

"Hey!" Xander smiles. "Buffy!"

"You missed it!" Willow says.

Buffy looks at them. "Missed what?"

"We just saw the zebras mating!" Xander says, nodding to Willow. "Thank you, very exciting."

"It was like the Heimlich, with stripes!" Willow smiles.

"And I missed it." Buffy says in mock disappointment. "Yet somehow I'll find the courage to live on." She begins to walk away; Willow and Xander follow after her.

"Where were you?"

"Uh, I was looking at the fishes."

"Was it cool?"

"It was fishes."

"I'm feelin' that you're not in the field trip spirit here." Xander says.

"Well, it would...it's nothing." Buffy says. "I...we do the same zoo trip at my old school every year. Same old, same old."

"Buffy, this isn't just about looking at a bunch of animals. This is about not being in class!" He tells her.

Buffy smiles, her mood brightened. "You know, you're right! Suddenly the animals look shiny and new."

"Gotta have perspective."

Suddenly, Buffy looks around. "Where's Trinity? I thought she'd be with you guys."

Willow shakes her head. "Every time we come here, she takes off to the feline exhibits and stays there."

"Which considering what we know about her now, it kinda makes some sense." Xander says. "Do you think that she goes there to bond with her fellow cats?"

 

Trinity stares into the eyes of a lioness. She tilts her head a bit and the lioness mirrors her movement. The lioness yawns before settling on her front paws.

Nearby, a little girl stares longingly at the lions. "Mom, they're not moving!" She pouts.

"I'm sure they're just tired sweetie." The woman says.

Trinity glances at the girl before looking back to the lioness. A small grin forms on her face and she nods. The lioness stands up and runs to the others. The other lioness stand and pounce on each other, playing.

"Look mommy!" The girl smiles.

 

A boy; Lance, stands in front of the monkey exhibit. He glances down as he sketches the animals.

Kyle and the rest of his gang walk up to the boy. "Lance! How's it goin'?"

The boy looks up. "Hey, Kyle." He says nervously.

Kyle looks between Lance and the monkeys. "So, is this like a, uh, family reunion?"

"No." Lance shakes his head.

"I think it's a family reunion. It's so...touching. Doesn't anybody have a camera?" He makes a photo taking gesture. "Whapish!"

Rhonda stands behind Lance. "Hey, does your mom still pick out your lice, or are you old enough to do that yourself now?"

"Quit it, huh?" Lance says. Suddenly Tor snatches the notebook from his hands. "Hey! Guys, c'mon! It's got my notes in there!"

Mr. Flutie walks over to the group. "What's going on here? I've had it up to here with you four! What're you doing?"

"Nothing." Kyle says.

Mr. Flutie looks at him. "Did I ask you to speak?" He pauses for a moment. "Okay, I guess I did, but I want the truth." He looks towards Lance. "Lance?"

"They weren't doing anything. Really!" Lance laughs nervously. "We were just playin' around."

"Alright." Mr. Flutie nods and turns to leave. He turns back to them. "I'll be watching you." He says before walking away.

"You!" Kyle smiles, pointing at Lance. "Came through big time."

"Way to go, Lance!" Rhonda pats his shoulder.

"Flutie's been looking for a reason to come down on us." Tor tells him.

Lance glances down shyly. "It's okay."

"Come on, we're gonna check out the Hyena House." Kyle says.

"But I think it's off-limits."

"And therein my friend; lies the fun."

Lance laughs and follows the group towards the Hyena House.

Buffy, Willow, and Xander see the group duck under the yellow tape and into the Hyena House.

"What are Kyle and his buds doing with Lance?" Willow asks.

"Oh, playing with him as a cat plays with a mouse." Xander says.

Buffy shakes her head. "What is it with those guys?"

"They're obnoxious." Willow tells her. "Professionally."

Xander sighs. "Well, every school has 'em. So, you start a new school, you get your desks, some blackboards and some mean kids."

"Yeah, well, I'd better extract Lance before-" Buffy starts but Xander interrupts her.

"I'll handle it. This job doesn't require actual slaying." He says before ducking under the tape and going into the Hyena House.

"You don't think we should follow?" Buffy asks Willow.

Willow shakes her head. "Kyle and those guys are jerks, but they're all talk. Mostly."

"Why don't we..." Buffy trails off.

Willow nods. "Yeah, why don't we?" The duck under the tape begin to head in but a zookeeper walks up to them.

"Oh, hold it, hold it, are you blind, or are you just illiterate?" He asks. "Because hyenas are very quick to prey on the weak."

Buffy looks at him with wide eyes. "Oh, w-we were just gonna take-"

"You're not going in there. Anyone that does is in a world of trouble."

"No, no one's going in there." Willow says as she and Buffy duck under the tape.

"Why is it off limits?" Buffy asks.

"It's a quarantine. These hyenas just came in from Africa, so keep out." He cocks his eyebrow. "Even if they call your name."

"What are you talking about?"

"The Masai tribesmen told me that hyenas are capable of understanding human speech. They follow humans around by day, learning their names. At night, when the campfire dies, they call out to a person. Once they separate him, the pack-" He snaps his fingers. "devours them."

 

Kyle and the group move tear the tape blocking the entrance and looks around the Hyena House. "Cool!" He says. He and the girls walk up to the enclosure and look in.

Lance stays back, not seeing Tor behind him. "I don't see any hyenas." Just as he says that, one of the Hyena's growls. He looks towards the gate and sees it staring at him. "Okay! Now we've seen it." He turns to leave but Tor stops him.

"Looks cute." Rhonda smiles.

"I think it looks hungry." Kyle walks towards Lance and grabs him. Tor grabs him as well.

"No!" Lance yells.

"C'mon, Spot!" Tor says.

"C'mon, stop it!"

"Supper time!" She smiles as they drag him up the steps and lift him up to the bars.

"Guys! Stop! It's not funny!" He says, panicking as they press him into the bars. He tries to fight but can't move his neck away from the bars. "Ow! Stop it! It's not funny!"

Suddenly, Xander appears, pulling them away from the boy. He and Lance step back. "Why don't you pick on somebody your own species?" He tells Kyle.

"What, are _you_ gonna get in my face?" Kyle asks.

The hyena's growl. Xander, Kyle and the others look at them. The hyena's eyes flash green, as do the students. Lance backs away but trips over a chair, falling to the floor. His notebook skids across the floor to the far wall. Kyle and the others turn to look at him and laugh. Lance stands up, picking his notebook up as well before rushing out of the Hyena House. Xander turns to look after him, his eyes flashing green.

 

On the bus, Xander silently stares out the window, watching the building pass by.

Trinity feels eyes on her and turns to see Rhonda, Tor, and Heidi staring at her. She furrows her brows in confusion before turning back around.

Kyle leans forwards in his seat, staring at Trinity as well.

Rhonda glares at him. "She's mine."

Heidi elbows her in the side. "Mine."

"Mine." Kyle growls softly. Tor growls as well.

Rhonda looks at him and Tor. "You don't have a chance. She has no interest in you or any other male."

"She just hasn't met the right one yet." He smirks.

 

At the Bronze, Buffy, Willow, and Trinity walk to a table. Buffy sets down her croissant and coke.

"I thought Xander would be here by now." Willow says.

"Hmm, that'd make him on time. We couldn't have that!" Trinity jokes.

"Did he seem upset at all on the bus back from the zoo?"

"About what?"

"I dunno. He was quiet."

"I didn't notice anything." Buffy says as they sit down. "But then again I'm not as hyperaware of him as, oh, say, for example, you."

"Hyperaware?"

"Well, I'm not constantly monitoring his health, his moods, his blood pressure..."

Willow grins. "130 over 80!"

"You got it bad, girl!" Buffy laughs.

"He makes my head go tingly. You know what I mean?"

"I dimly recall."

"But it hasn't happened to you lately?"

"Not of late."

"Not even for a dangerous and mysterious older man whose leather jacket you're wearing right now?"

"Goes with the shoes!" Buffy defends, making Trinity laugh.

"Come on, Angel pushes your buttons. You know he does." Willow says.

"I suppose some girls might find him good looking...if they have eyes, alright, he's a honey, but...it's just he's never around, and when he is, all he wants to do is talk about vampires, and...I, I just can't have a relationship-"

Willow spots someone out of the corner of her eyes. "There he is!"

"Angel?" Buffy asks.

"Xander." Trinity says, following Willow's gaze.

Xander walks into the club and drags his eyes up and down a passing girl. She stares after him as he walks up to the table, joining his friends. "Girls!"

"Boy!" Buffy greets.

"Sorry I'm late, I...just forgot that we were gonna be here." He sees Buffy's croissant. "Hungry!" He tears a piece off and stuffs it into his mouth.

"Xander, you still want me to help you with geometry tomorrow?" Willow asks as he takes a drink of Buffy's coke. "We can work after class."

"Yeah." Xander nods, giving her a thumbs up before turning to Buffy. "What is this crap?"

"Well, it _was_ my buttery croissant." Buffy says, looking at the leftover food.

Xander sighs. "Man, I need some food! Birds live on this!" He notices the girls staring at him. "What?"

"What's up with you?" Trinity asks.

"Is something wrong? Did I do something?" Willow questions.

Xander looks at her. "What could you possibly do? That's crazy talk. I'm just...restless."

"Well, we could go to the ice cream place."

"I like it here." He points to the table and looks around. He leans towards Buffy and sniffs her hair.

"Okay, now what?" Buffy asks.

"You took a bath."

"Yeah, I-I often do, I'm actually known for it."

"That's okay." He says. Buffy and Willow exchange a look while Trinity furrows her brows at Xander.

"And the weird behavior award goes to..."

As the next song begins to play, Xander sees Kyle and the rest of his gang walk in.

_Oh, Reluctant Man_

Buffy spots them as well. "Oh, great. It's the winged monkeys." She watches as the gang walks towards them.

_Who's afraid to touch the world_

_Why are you hiding?_

_What is the base of all your fears?_

Xander stares at them.

_Do you find yourself in a cold cruel world_

Kyle stops at their table and Xander stares him down.

_Dark and desperate, scared and lonely?_

Kyle, Tor, and Rhonda move their gaze to Trinity, staring at her with hungry eyes. Xander moves to Trinity and puts a hand around her waist, glaring at them. After a moment, Kyle and his gang move to another table, where a boy sits.

_Selfish Man_

_Who never gave to no one else_

_What are you holding?_

_Is it worth the price you pay?_

"Y'know, I don't understand why you're sitting at our table." Kyle says.

_'Cause your eyes they see just what you want to see_

"Yeah, shouldn't you be hovering over the football stadium with 'Goodyear' written on you?" Rhonda asks, making the group laugh.

_And I hope they're not staring blindly at me_

Xander watches the scene and laughs as well. He turns to Buffy and stops laughing at the sight of her unamused face. "Kid's fat."

Trinity pulls herself away from Xander. "I'll be right back." She stands and makes her way through the club.

Rhonda follows the girl with her eyes.

 

Trinity walks out of the bathroom stall and steps up to the sink. She washes her hands and pulls a paper towel to dry them.

Just then, Rhonda walks into the bathroom and leans against the door, eyeing Trinity.

Trinity throws the paper towel away and goes to leave. She stops when she sees Rhonda. "Look." She sighs. "I'm really not in mood for your jokes right now. So why don't you do us both a favor, and just let it go so we can enjoy our night."

Rhonda steps away from the door and stalks closer to Trinity. "I have a few ideas on how to make our night _plenty_ enjoyable." She smiles and raises a hand towards Trinity's face.

Trinity grabs Rhonda's hand before she can touch her. "Not interested." She lets go of Rhonda's hand and goes to walk around her but Rhonda grabs her wrist tightly.

"Hey!"

Trinity breaks Rhonda's hold and shoves the girl into the wall, holding her there. "I said I'm not interested." She says, fighting to keep the growl out of her voice. "Touch me again and will get _very_ ugly."

Rhonda keeps her head low and nods.

Trinity stares at her for a moment before stepping away and rushing out of the bathroom.

 

Trinity walks up to her friends table. "Hey, I think I'm gonna clear out."

Buffy looks at her. "What? Why?"

"I'm just not in the mood right now. I'll see you guys tomorrow." She says before leaving.

Buffy and Willow look after their friend with worried eyes.

 

Giles wears protective gear, training Buffy. She does a roundhouse kick followed by a high punch and a swinging middle punch to Giles' gloved hands before doing a full spin and finishing with a backhand punch. As she's training, her hits get harder and harder, making Giles struggle to keep in place. She does a full spinning jumping high wheel kick followed by a right middle punch, a high roundhouse kick and a front snap kick. Then she jumps high and executes a twin straddle kick. She lands back on her feet and moves in to attack again but Giles jumps back.

"Right!" He says, making Buffy stop. "That's enough training for one day."

"Well, that last roundhouse was kinda sloppy." She says. "Are you sure you don't wanna do it again?"

"No! No, no, that's fine." He says, out of breath. "You just...run along to class." He says. Buffy nods and leaves. "While I wait for the feeling to return to my arms." His whispers to himself.

 

A pig dressed in a small football helmet with foam tusk and fake razors on its back; Herbert, runs through the school halls.

Mr. Flutie chases after it. "Look out! It's gotten loose!" Herbert weaves through the legs of students before Buffy turns a corner and quickly catches him, picking him up. "Lordy, Herbert!" He says, seeing the pig in Buffy's arms. "Gave Mr. Flutie quite a scare, didn't he?" He turns to the crowd. "Students, I'd like you all to meet Herbert, our new mascot for the Sunnydale High Razorbacks!" He says and the students clap.

"He's so cute!" Buffy says, looking at the pig in her arms.

"He's not cute. No! He's a fierce Razorback!" He says, making the students clap more.

"He doesn't look mean, Mr. Flutie."

"He's mean, he's ready for action! See?" He points to the helmet. "Here are the tusks." He points to the fake razors. "The scary Razorback!"

"You're right. He's a fine mascot and will engender school spirit."

"Uh, he better. Costs a fortune to feed him." He looks at the pig. "Alright, let's get you back into your cage." He goes to take the Herbert from Buffy but moves back when the pig begins to squeal. "This way." He points, leading Buffy down the hallway.

 

Outside, Willow tries to help Xander with geometry.

"I'm not getting this." He says.

"It's simple, really. See." She points to the book. "'The bisector of a vertex is the line that divides the angle at that vertex into two equal parts.'"

"It's like a big blur, all these numbers and angles."

"It's the same stuff from last week. You had it down then."

"Why do I need to learn this?"

"'Cause otherwise you'll flunk math?'"

"Explain the part where that's bad." He rubs the bridge of his nose.

"You remember, you fail math, you flunk out of school, you end up being the guy at the pizza place that sweeps the floor and says, 'Hey, kids, where's the cool parties this weekend?' We've been through this." She explains. She sees Xander rub his temple. "Do you have a headache?" She reaches towards him but he avoids her touch.

"Yeah, and I think I know what's causing it." He throws his geometry book into the trash. "Ah! That's better; it goes right to the source of the pain."

"Xander..."

"Look, forget it, okay?" He says, frustrated. "I don't get it. I won't ever." He stands up. "I don't care." He throws his math notebook into Willow's lap and leaves.

 

Buffy follows Mr. Flutie to the faculty room with Herbert in her arms and they stop outside it.

"See, the problem is you kids today have no school spirit. Hold on; let me get his outfit off." He takes off the helmet and the fake razors. "Today it's all gangs and drugs and those movies on Showtime with the nudity." He sees the look Buffy gives him. "I don't have cable, I only heard." He says, trying to save face. "When I was your age we cared about the school's reputation and the football team's record, all that stuff! Of course, when I was your age I was surrounded by old guys telling me how much better things were when they were _my_ age." He leads her into the faculty room.

"Yeah!" Buffy says to Herbert.

Just then, Xander walks into the hallway. Herbert squeals and thrashes in Buffy's arms at the sight of him. She looks between the pig and Xander, confused.

 

Trinity closes her locker only to see Kyle leaning against another. _Not again._ "What do you want?"

Kyle drags his eyes up and down her form and smirks. "How about we get out of here and go someplace private. Y'know, hang out for a little bit."

Trinity rolls her eyes. "Is there some kind of bet going on? 'Hey, let's flirt with the lesbian and see if she cracks?'"

Kyle steps closer. "Come on." He says. "I don't bite...all the time."

Trinity's face scrunches in disgust. "For your own safety, please leave me the hell alone."

"Playing hard to get."

Trinity feels a hand on her waist and sees Xander. "She said get lost." Xander says, staring Kyle down.

"She just doesn't know what she's missing." Kyle says, not moving his gaze away from Trinity.

Xander steps towards him, making Kyle look at him. "She said no. If you come near her again, you'll have me to deal with." He says, darkly. Kyle tries to hole his gaze but looks down and nods. "Now apologize to her."

Kyle looks at Trinity. "Sorry." He says before walking away.

Trinity watches after him. "Whoa." She says before looking at Xander. "That was kinda badass."

"I guess." Xander says, still staring after Kyle.

"Thanks." She says. "I hope this little game of theirs is over now."

Xander looks at her. "Game?"

"Yeah, Rhonda cornered me in the bathroom last night. Got a little handsy."

"She touched you?"

"It's okay, I handled it." She says. "She now understands that no means no."

 

Outside, lightning strikes as the rain falls.

 

In the school gym, Coach Harold stands in front of the class. "Alright, it's raining, all regular gym classes have been postponed, so you know what that means." He holds up a large red rubber ball. "Dodgeball! Now, for those of you that may have forgotten, the rules are as follows; you dodge." He says before tossing the ball to Buffy. He blows his whistle, and the two groups move back from center court.

At the sound of the whistle the groups begin throwing. Xander hits a boy with his ball. Buffy, Trinity, and the pack members dodge easily. A ball sails towards Trinity but Tor catches it and harshly launches it towards the boy who through it. Buffy throws a ball and hits a student. Xander throws the ball and hits Willow hard on the back. She looks at him, hurt and confused before making her way off the court. Soon the numbers on the court have dwindled. Xander, the pack, Trinity, and Lance on one side, while Buffy stands alone on the other. The pack looks at Buffy before turning to Lance. The boy realizes what's about to happen and cowers as his teammates harshly throws the balls at him. Trinity rushes over and pushes them away. Buffy runs over and helps Lance up. She stares at Xander and he stares back before turning to leave with the rest of the pack. Trinity and Buffy share a look.

Coach Harold watches with a smile. "God, this game is brutal. I love it!" He says to himself.

 

Willow waits for Xander in the hallway. Once she sees him break away from the rest of the pack, she walks up to him. "Xander." She says, gaining his attention. "What's wrong with you?"

He looks at the others briefly before pulling Willow aside. "I guess you've noticed that I've been different around you lately."

"Yes." She nods.

"I think, um...I think it's because my feelings for you have been changing." He says. Buffy and Trinity come from around the corner. Trinity leans against the lockers as Buffy works on her combination. "And, well, we've been friends for such a long time that I feel like I need to tell you something." He sees Willow's expectant look. "I've, um...I've decided to drop geometry. So I won't be needing your math help anymore. Which means I won't have to look at your pasty face again." He begins to laugh, the others laughing as well.

Willow looks at him in hurt before turning to leave. She passes Buffy and Trinity. Trinity shares a look with Buffy before following after Willow.

Buffy slams her locker before walking up to Xander with her arms crossed. He stops laughing. "You gonna say something to me?" She asks.

Xander looks at her and laughs even louder before walking towards the pack and leading them away.

Buffy heads in the direction Willow and Trinity went.

 

The pack walks around outside when Xander stops and sniffs the air. "Dogs!"

"Where?" Kyle asks.

Xander leads them to a table where three boys sit.

"You're out of your mind, that's no way to play guitar." One of the boys says.

His friend scoffs. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean, that's just hunt and peck!"

"It's not!"

The boy looks up and sees Xander. "Hey, Xander, you've heard Wretched Refuse play, what do you think of the guy who plays lead?"

Tor and Heidi reach in and take their hotdogs.

"Hey. Hey, what are you guys-" The boy starts.

"Shut up." Rhonda says.

"You're sharing." Kyle tells them.

"Friends like to share." Xander says before looking at Tor and Heidi. "Good?"

Tor scrunches his face. "It's too well-done." He and Heidi toss the food back onto the boys plates.

"Hey! That is _not_ cool." The boy says. Xander sniffs the air again and looks in the direction when he catches a scent. He leads the pack away. Kyle climbs onto the table and stomps on the boys' lunches before following after Xander. "Hey!"

 

Xander leads the pack into the faculty room and takes a deep breath through his nose. Two of the pack members close the blinds. Xander leads the pack towards the cage and crouches down. "Let's do lunch."

Herbert squeals in fear.

 

Xander leads the pack up the stairs from the administrative offices and into the quad. Several students stare as they walk by. Lance walks by and stops at the sight of the group. Xander sniffs him before he continues to walk. He notices, Buffy, Trinity, and Willow talking on the balcony and listens in.

" _I've known him my whole life, Buffy."_ Willow says.

 

Willow sniffs. "Well, we haven't always been close, but he's never..."

"I think something's wrong with him." Buffy says.

"Or maybe there's something wrong with me."

Buffy looks at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"C'mon. He's not picking on you. He's just sniffing you a lot. I don't know, maybe three isn't company anymore."

"You think this has something to do with me?"

"Of course."

Trinity shakes her head. "No. He's not picking on me either." Trinity says. "When Kyle and his goons kept hitting on me, he made them back off. But he was...different. It wasn't like last time."

Buffy looks at her. "What are you talking about?"

Trinity sighs. "When I first came out, it wasn't easy. Some people didn't mind, but others did. Some would call me names and I could handle that. But every once in a while some jerk would think that he would be able to _turn_ the lesbian. That's when Xander and Jesse stepped in." She sees Buffy's look of concern and shakes her head. "Don't worry about it. The guys here are all talk. If they actually have to take on someone their own size, they back off pretty quickly. And even if Xander and Jesse weren't there, I can handle myself. But what happened earlier...Xander seemed...I don't know."

Buffy's brows furrow in thought. "But that still doesn't explain why he's hanging out with the dode patrol." She hops off the railing. "Something's going on. Something weird." She starts to walk away.

"What're you gonna do?" Willow calls after her.

"Talk to the expert on weird." Buffy says, continuing to walk.

 

Buffy follows Giles around the library as he works.

"Xander's taken to teasing the less fortunate?" He asks.

"Uh-huh." She nods.

"And, there's been a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanor?"

"Yes."

"And, well, otherwise all his spare time is spent lounging about with imbeciles."

"It's bad, isn't it."

"It's devastating. He's turned into a sixteen-year-old boy. Course, you'll have to kill him."

"Giles, I'm serious."

He looks at her. "So am I. Except for the part about killing him. Testosterone is a great equalizer. It turns all men into morons. He will, however, get over it."

Buffy lets out an exasperated sigh. "I cannot believe that you, of all people, are trying to Scully me. There is something supernatural at work here." She picks up some books. "Get your books! Look stuff up!"

Giles takes the books from her. "Look under what?"

"I don't know." She sighs. "That's your department."

"The evidence that you've presented me with is sketchy at best."

"He scared the pig." She tells him. Giles gives her a look. "Well, he did."

"Buffy, boys can be cruel. They tease, they, they, they prey on the weak. I-i-it's natural teen behavior pattern."

"What did you just say?"

"Um, they tease."

Buffy shakes her head. "They prey on the weak. I've heard that somewhere bef-" Her eyes widen in realization. "Xander has been acting totally wiggy ever since we went to the zoo. Him and Kyle and all those guys, they went into the hyena cage. Oh god, that laugh..."

Giles looks at her. "You're saying that, uh, Xander's becoming a hyena."

"I don't know. Or been possessed by one? Not just Xander, all of them."

"Well, I-I-I've cer-certainly never heard of, uh-"

Willow and Trinity rush into the library. "Herbert! They found him." Willow says.

"The pig?" Buffy asks.

Trinity nods. "Dead. And also eaten. Principal Flutie's freaking out."

Buffy turns to Giles. "Testosterone, huh?"

Giles heads towards his office.

"What're you gonna do?" Willow asks.

"Get my books. Look stuff up."

 

Outside, Principal Flutie walks up to the pack. Xander is not with them. "You four!"

"What?" Kyle asks.

"Oh, don't think I don't know. Three kids saw you outside Herbert's room. You're busted! Yeah! You're goin' down."

"How is Herbert?" Rhonda asks.

"Crunchy!" Heidi says, making them laugh.

"That's it! My office, right now." He says angrily. The students continue to laugh. "NOW!"

They stop laughing and Kyle hops off the table. The others follow after him.

"You're gonna have so much detention, your grandchildren will be staying after school." Flutie says, leading them away.

 

In the Library, Willow, Trinity, and Buffy research.

"Wow!" Buffy says from her spot on the stairs. "Apparently Noah rejected the hyenas from the Ark because he thought they were an evil impure mixture of dogs and cats."

"Hyenas aren't well liked." Trinity says.

"They do seem to be the schmoes of the animal kingdom." Buffy gets up and walks over to Willow.

"Why couldn't Xander be possessed by a puppy or, or some ducks?" Willow asks.

"That's assuming 'possession' is the right word."

Giles walks out of the cage. "Oh, I'll say it is. The Masai of the Serengeti have spoken of animal possession for, for generations. I...I should have remembered that."

"So how does it work?" Trinity asks.

"Well, apparently there's a, a sect of animal worshipers known as Primals. They believe that humanity, uh, consciousness, uh, the soul, is a, is a perversion, a dilution of spirit. Uh, to them the animal state is holy. They are able, through trans-possession, to, to, um, draw the spirit of certain animals into themselves."

"And then they started acting like hyenas." Buffy concludes.

"Well, only the most predatory of animals are, are of interest to the Primals, so, uh, yes, yes, that would fit, yes."

"So, what happens to the person once the spirit's in them?"

"If it goes unchecked..." He hand Buffy the book, showing her the page.

Buffy takes one look and slams the book shut, hopping off the table and rushing out of the library. "I gotta find Xander."

Willow picks up the book and opens the bookmarked page. Trinity looks over her shoulder. They see a drawing of people with bitten off limbs, severed heads, and massive injuries.

Trinity turns to Giles. "What about me?" She asks.

"Pardon?" Giles looks at her.

"Kyle and his goons have been flirting with me. They made their intention pretty clear on why they were doing it."

"They've shown uh, uh...sexual interest in you?" He asks, uncomfortable.

"Yeah." Trinity nods.

"Well, Hyena's are attracted to strong females."

"So why aren't they hounding after Buffy?"

"Well Buffy isn't a neko." Willow says. "Maybe they can sense the animal in you?"

"What, so you're telling me that they want to mate with me?" She asks. Giles takes his glasses off and begins to clean them. "Oh hell no."

 

Buffy looks around the faculty room. She sighs when she sees Herbert's warped cage. "They are strong." She takes a step forward and hears a crunch. She moves her foot and sees bones on the ground. She crouches down and picks up a rib, not noticing Xander come in behind her. She stands up and turns around, startled by the sight of him. "Xander." She tries to walk around him but he blocks her way. She sighs. "This is ridiculous. We need to talk." She feigns to go around him and jumps on him, knocking him to ground and landing on top of her.

Xander smiles. "Been waitin' for you to jump my bones."

 

Mr. Flutie stands in front of his desk, looking at Kyle and the pack. "I have seen some sick things in my life! Believe me! But this is beyond the pale! What is it with you people?" He asks. The pack whines and begin to stalk him. "Is it drugs? How could you? A poor defenseless pig?" He notices their behavior. "What are you doing?"

 

Xander growls and rolls Buffy over onto her back. He sits on top of her, pinning her arms down.

"Get off of me." She says.

"Is that what you really want?" He holds her down as she struggles. "We both know what you really want. You want danger, don't cha? You like your men dangerous."

"You're in trouble, Xander. You are infected with some hyena thing; it's like a demonic possession!"

"Dangerous and mean, right? Like Angel. Your Mystery Guy. Well, guess who just got mean."

 

Mr. Flutie goes behind his desk to put some space between him and the pack. "Now, stop that! You're only gonna make things worse for yourselves. I tell you how this is gonna work; I am gonna call your parents, and they are gonna take you all home." He reaches for the phone, but Tor gets his hands on it first and stares him down. Flutie looks at him a moment and then gestures to the phone. Tor gives it to him. "Thank you." He starts to pull the phone toward himself to dial, but Rhonda tears it away from him and throws it off of the desk.

"I'm sorry." She says sarcastically.

"That is it!" Flutie says, furious. He tries to make his way around the group but Kyle growls at him. He falls back into his chair, staring at the boy in shock.

 

"Do you know how long...I've waited...until you'd stop pretending that we aren't attracted." Xander says. Buffy throws him off of her and quickly gets up to face him. He gets up as well and stalks towards her as she backs away. "Until Willow...stops kidding herself...that I could settle with anyone but you?"

"Look, Xander, I don't wanna hurt you-" Buffy starts but he grabs her by the shoulders and pushes her against the vending machine.

"Now do you wanna hurt me?" He asks. Buffy struggles but can't break his grip. "Come on, Slayer. I like it when you're scared. The more I scare you," He sniffs her. "the better you smell." He moves in and roughly kisses her neck.

 

The pack taunts and sniffs Flutie.

"You're about this close to expulsion, people!" Flutie says, standing up. "I'm willing to talk to the school counselor, and we can discuss options." He tries to go around them but Heidi stops him. Tor hops onto the desk and growls at them. Flutie glares at him. "Get down from there this instant!" Rhonda scratches his cheek with her nails. He falls back into his chair with his hand covering his face. He looks at his hand and sees blood covering it. "Are you insane?!" He asks, terrified.

Tor leaps onto him and the rest of the pack follows as they begin to feed.

 

In the library, Willow and Trinity watch footage of hyenas feeding on the computer. They look up when they hear the door open. Willow pauses the video. Their eyes widen when they see Buffy dragging in an unconscious Xander.

"Hurry up. We gotta get him locked up somehow before he comes to." Buffy says.

Willow walks over. "Oh, my god, Xander! What happened?"

"I hit him."

"With what?" Trinity asks.

"A desk." She answers. Trinity opens the cage door and watches Buffy drag him in. "He tried his hand at felony sexual assault."

"Oh, Buffy, the hyena in him didn't-" Willow starts.

"No." She says, laying Xander on the floor. "No, but it's safe to say that in his animal state his idea of wooing doesn't involve a Yanni CD and a bottle of Chianti." She walks out and locks the cage. "There, that oughtta hold him. Where's Giles?"

"He got called to some teacher's meeting. What are we gonna do? I mean...how do we get Xander back?" She asks. Giles walks back into the library.

"Right now I'm a little more worried about what the rest of the pack are up to." Buffy says.

"The rest of the pack were spotted outside Herbert the mascot's cage. They were sent to the principal's office." Giles tells them.

Willow nods. "Good! That'll show 'em." She sees Giles solemn face. "Did it show 'em?" Giles sighs, remaining silent.

"They didn't hurt him, did they?" Buffy asks.

"They, uh..." Giles trails off. "Ate him."

Willow sits down at the news while Buffy and Trinity stare at Giles in shock. "They ate Principal Flutie?" Buffy asks.

"Ate him up?" Willow questions.

"The, uh, official theory is that wild dogs got into his office somehow. There was no one at the scene." Giles says.

"Wild dogs?" Trinity says skeptically. "This far into Sunnydale, in the middle of the day, without being spotted."

"Uh, yes."

"But Xander didn't..." Willow turns to Buffy. "He, he was with you."

Giles sees Xander in the cage. "Oh! Uh, well, that's a small mercy."

"Giles, how do we stop this? How do you trans-possess someone?" Buffy asks.

"I-I'm afraid I still don't have all the pieces. Um, the accounts of the Primals and their methods are a bit thin on the ground. There is some talk of a-a-a predatory act, but the exact ritual is, is, um..." He trails off in thought and picks up a book. "The Malleus Maleficarum deals in particulars of demonic possession, which...may apply..." He looks through a few pages. "Yes, one, one should be able to transfer the spirits to another human."

Buffy nods. "Oh, that's great. Any volunteers?" She asks sarcastically.

"Oh." Giles realizes. "Good point."

"What we need to do is put the hyena back in the hyena."

"B-but until we know more, uh..."

"Betcha that zookeeper could tell us. Maybe he didn't quarantine those hyenas because they were sick."

"We should talk to him." Trinity says.

"Okay." Buffy starts to leave but stops. "Oh, wait, somebody's gotta watch Xander."

Willow stands up. "I will."

"Will, are you sure? If he wakes up-"

Willow holds her hand out for the keys. "I'll be alright. Go."

Buffy hesitates for a moment before handing the Willow the keys to the cage. She grabs her coat and turns to Trinity and Giles. "C'mon."

Willow watches them leave and looks over at Xander in the cage before pocketing the keys.

 

Outside, a woman walks with her baby strapped to her back. She walks through some bushes and sees the pack lying on the ground, sleeping. The pack wakes and sees the woman. She begins to slowly back away in fear, not noticing that she's stepping near Tor. He growls at her. The pack members begin to slowly crawl towards her. The woman turns around and runs. The pack lies back down.

 

Xander wakes up. "Willow." He calls.

Willow pauses the hyena video and turns towards him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like somebody hit me with a desk." He looks around. "What am I doin' here?"

Willow stands up and walks towards the stage. "You're...resting.

"You guys got me locked up now." He says, standing up.

"'Cause you're sick. Buffy said-"

"Oh, yeah. Buffy and her all-purpose solution; punch 'em out 'n' knock 'em down. I'd love to see what she'd do to somebody who was _really_ sick."

"That's not fair. Buffy saved our lives."

"Before she came here our lives didn't need that much saving, did they? Weren't things a lot simpler when it was just you and me?"

"Maybe." She says, moving closer.

"When we were alone together...Willow, I know there's something wrong with me. I think it's gettin' worse. But I can't just stand around waitin' for Buffy to decide it's time to punch me out again." He sighs. "Look, I want you to help me. I want you."

"I am helping you."

He shakes his head. "You're doing what you're told."

"Buffy's trying to help you, too. You know that. Or Xander does."

"Yeah. Buffy's so selfless. Always thinking of us. Well, if I'm so dangerous, how come she left you alone with me? Why not leave Trinity?"

"I told her to."

"Why?"

"'Cause I know you better than she does...and I wanted to be here to see if...you were still you."

"You know I am. Look at me." He looks into her eyes. "Look."

Willow moves closer. "Xander..." She whispers. He tries to grab for her through the book return slot in the cage, but she jerks back in time. "Now I know."

Xander bangs on the cage. "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" He screams.

 

Giles, Trinity, and Buffy stand in the zookeepers office.

"The students have been possessed by the hyenas?" The zookeeper asks.

"Yes." Giles nods.

"Are you sure?"

"We're really, really sure." Buffy tells him.

Trinity looks at him. "You don't seem enormously surprised by this."

"The zoo imported those hyenas from Africa. There was something strange about them from day one. I did some homework. That particular breed is very rare. Totally vicious. Historically they were worshipped by these guys..." The zookeeper trails off as he struggles for a name.

"Primals." Giles says.

The zookeeper nods. "Yeah! Creepy guys! Now, they had rituals for taking the hyena spirits, but I-I don't see how that coulda happened to your kids."

"Uh, we don't know exactly how the ritual works. We know that it involves a, um, um...predatory act and some kind of symbol."

"Predatory act? Of course. That makes sense. Where did you read that?"

"Do you have Sherman Jeffries' work on, on cults and on-"

"Boys?" Buffy interrupts, gaining their attention.

"Sorry." Giles says.

"Look." The zookeeper says.

"Sorry." Giles raises his hand a bit.

The zookeeper sighs. "Look. I think we may have enough information so that together we could pull off a reverse trans-possession."

"What do we do?" Trinity asks.

"We've gotta get those possessed students over to the hyena cage right away. I'll meet you there. We can begin the rituals."

"W-well, we can guarantee one of them, but there are four more, and we have no idea where they are." Buffy says.

"No, I wouldn't worry about that. After hyenas feed and rest they will track the missing member of their pack until they find him. They should come right to you."

"Willow!" Trinity says, worried.

 

Willow watches the hyena video while Xander paces in the cage.

"Willow." He calls.

"I'm not listening." She says.

Kyle and Heidi look into the high windows of the library. "Wiiillooow." He sings. "Wiiillooow."

Willow turns to the cage. "Xander, shut up!"

"Wiiillooow."

She looks up at the window where the sound is coming from and jumps back in fright at the sight of Kyle.

Kyle and Heidi kick in the windows. Willow gets up and runs from the library. The pack comes in as Xander kicks and pounds at the cage. Kyle pulls at the cage, bending the corner of the door. The others begin to bang at the cage as well.

 

Willow stops at an intersection in the hallway.

 

The pack finally pulls the door away, freeing Xander. They whine and sniff each other.

 

Willow runs to a door and tries to open it, only to find that it is locked.

 

Xander looks toward the library doors and begins tracking Willow. The others follow after him.

 

Willow runs to another door on the other side of the hall. Luckily, it is unlocked. She goes in and closes the door behind her.

 

The pack walks into the hallway intersection and sniffs around for Willow's scent.

 

Willow hides under the teacher's desk.

 

The pack splits up and begins searching for Willow. Xander and Heidi walk down the hall. He sniffs and looks at the door that Willow went through and goes into the classroom with Heidi.

 

Willow stays quiet under the desk.

 

Xander looks around and sees nothing. He motions with his head for them to leave.

 

When Willow hears the door close she comes out from under the desk. She looks toward the door and screams at the sight of Xander. She jumps back against the window blinds. Xander growls and leaps over the desk at her. She runs around the desk to get away and tips over a student desk to block Xander's way. He comes after her and trips over the desk. Willow runs out of the door, but is met by Heidi. Trinity comes up behind Heidi and hits her on the back with a fire extinguisher and knocks her out before tossing the object away. Buffy stands at her side. Willow rushes out of the room and over to Giles. Xander picks himself up off the floor and rushes towards Buffy. She kicks him, and he falls in the hall outside the classroom as well. The other three pack members appear at the end of the hall.

"Run!" Giles yells as the pack begins running towards them. He and Willow run back into the classroom. Buffy and Trinity follow. Buffy closes the door behind them. The pack pounds on the door but quickly gives up and walks away, seeing that they can't get in.

"I think they're going." Buffy says.

"They could be faking it." Willow tells her.

Trinity shakes her head. "No, they're hungry. They'll be looking for somebody weak."

Buffy looks towards Willow. "I'm really sorry, Will. I didn't know they were gonna come after Xander."

"It's okay." Willow says.

"We must lead them back to the zoo if we're going to stop this." Giles says.

"And before their next meal. Guess that's my job." Buffy says.

"Well, individually they're almost as strong as you. As a group they're..."

"I'll go with her." Trinity says. "They're tough, but I think they're getting stupider. You guys go to the zoo and we'll bring them to you." She and Buffy leave.

 

The Anderson family walks out of their house and towards the car.

"I didn't say she looks better than you, I said she looks better." Mr. Anderson says.

"I heard what I heard." Mrs. Anderson says before she turns to her son, who devours a twinkie. "Joey, chew! You have to chew or you'll choke!" They get into the car.

"I don't see why we have to have this conversation every time we see them."

"I didn't start it." She puts on her seatbelt.

Mr. Anderson looks at the ignition. "Damn. Where are the keys?"

"Huh?"

"Jooeey." They hear being called and look around. Kyle looks down from the Jeep's roof into Joey's window.

Mrs. Anderson screams as the pack hops onto the hood of the car and slaps the windshield. Xander pounds on the window across from Joey.

"What going on?! Hey! Get off! Get off of there!" Mr. Anderson orders.

Xander breaks the window with his elbow.

"Get away!" Joey screams.

Xander growls and reaches in for Joey.

His mother reaches back, trying to protect him. "Joey! Joey! Joey!"

Buffy and Trinity run up. Trinity grabs Rhonda and throws her off of the hood and onto the ground. Buffy climbs to the roof and does an in-to-out crescent kick knocking Kyle off. Trinity hops onto the car as well, gaining higher ground. She looks down at Xander's feet sticking out of the window.

"Joey!" Mrs. Anderson screams.

"Didn't your mom teach you?" Buffy asks, gaining Xander's attention. "Don't play with your food." Xander crawls out and looks up at her. The pack gathers around him and looks up at her. She straightens up and puts her hands on her hips.

Trinity looks at the pack members. "C'mon. You know what you want."

Buffy and Trinity jump off of the car and runs down the street. The pack chases after them.

 

Giles and Willow run to the Hyena house.

"The pathway to the Hyena House. Where's the zookeeper?" Willow asks.

"Uh, he must be inside. I-I'll go in and prepare things. You just warn, uh, us when you hear Buffy and the others approaching." Giles says before running in.

Willow turns around to watch and wait.

 

Buffy and Trinity weave through trees. The pack hot on their trail.

 

Giles ducks under the tape and into the main area of the hyena house.

"Doctor? Uh...Zookeeper?" Giles calls. He hears a door close and is startled by the zookeeper, who is garbed in tribal wear and painting. "Oh! Oh, of course, the, uh, Masai ceremonial garb. Yes...very good. Are you, uh, otherwise prepared for the trans-possession?"

The zookeeper nods. "Almost."

Giles notices the markings on the floor. "Oh, right! The, uh, sacred circle. Yes, you'd need that to, um...this would be here when...when the children first came. Why would you..." His eyes widen in realization. "How terribly frustrating for you, that a bunch of school children could accomplish what you could not."

The zookeeper shrugs. "It bothered me. But the power will be mine."

Giles tries to flee but the zookeeper hits him in the stomach with his staff and again on the back, knocking him out. He tosses the staff aside and drags Giles away.

 

Buffy and Trinity continue to run through the trees.

 

Willow hears them coming and runs inside. "They're almost here! Giles! Giles!" She sees the zookeeper. "Where are the hyenas for the trans-possession?"

"They're right here in the feeding area." He says. Willow runs to see the hyenas, but he stops her. "Stay back! They haven't been fed."

She looks at him. "Where's Giles?"

"He's...laying in wait."

"They're almost here. Shouldn't you bring the hyenas out?"

"When the time is right. I'm gonna need your help." He begins to bind her wrists.

 

Buffy and Trinity towards the hyena house. "They're right behind us!" Buffy yells.

 

"That's Buffy!" Willow says. "Get ready!"

The zookeeper takes Willow and positions her in front of him. "Here."

"What is this?" She asks, confused.

"A predatory act, remember?" He holds a knife to her throat.

"Uh, right. You'll pretend to slash my throat and, and put the evil in the hyenas?"

"Something like that."

Willow's eyes widen in realization. Buffy and Trinity run in but stop at the sight of Willow being held by the zookeeper. "Guys, it's a trap!"

Xander grabs Buffy from behind and they fall to the floor. The others tackle Trinity to the floor.

"YU BA YA SA NA!" The zookeeper yells. The pack looks up at him, their eyes flashing green. The zookeeper's eyes flash green. He turns to Willow and growls. He drops the knife, grabs her head, moving in to bite her.

"Willow!" Xander yells. He gets up and rushes towards the zookeeper, knocking him down and away from Willow. The pack gets off of Trinity. The zookeeper gets up and punches Xander. Buffy gets up and punches the zookeeper. Kyle and his gang see the fight and begin to scamper away on their butts. The zookeeper charges at Buffy, but she knocks him back down. He charges her again, and she tosses him over onto his back. He gets up and tries again. Buffy gets under him and throws him up and into the hyena pit. He tries to climb out, but is dragged back down by the hyenas. Kyle and his gang get up and run away. Buffy runs to the pit, but is too late. The zookeeper is dead. She looks away. Xander unties Willow.

Giles comes out of the back room. "Uh, did I miss anything?" He asks.

 

At school the next day, Buffy, Willow, Trinity, and Xander walk across the quad.

"I heard the vice-principal's taking over till they can find a replacement." Willow tells them.

"It shouldn't be too hard to find a new principal. Unless they ask what happened to the last one." Trinity says.

"Okay, but I had nothing to do with that, right?" Xander asks as they start to climb the stairs.

"Oh, right." Buffy says.

"You only ate the pig." Willow tells him.

"I ate a pig?" He asks. "Was it cooked and called bacon or..." The girls shake their heads. Xander covers his face. "Oh, my god! I ate a pig? I mean, the whole trichinosis issue aside, yuck!"

"Well, it wasn't really you." Buffy tells him.

"Well, I remember I was goin' on the field trip, and then goin' down to the Hyena House, and next thing some guy's holding Willow and he's got a knife."

"You saved my life." She says.

"Hey! Nobody messes with my Willow." He pulls her into a hug.

Buffy smiles when she sees the grin on Willow's face. "This is definitely the superior Xander. Accept no substitutes."

Xander pulls away from Willow. "I didn't do anything else, did I, around you guys or anything embarrassing?"

The girls smile. Buffy looks at him and shakes her head. "Nah!"

"Not at all." Trinity says.

"C'mon. We're gonna be late." Buffy says, taking Willow's hand and leading her away.

"Cool! Oh, hey, goin' vegetarian! Huh?" He gives them two thumbs-up. The girls turn and smile at him before continuing on.

Xander heads in the other direction and Giles walks up to him.

"I've been reading up on my, uh, animal possession, and I cannot find anything anywhere about memory loss afterwards." Giles tells him.

"Did you tell them that?"

Giles leans closer. "Your secret dies with me."

"Shoot me, stuff me, mount me."

Giles pats him on the shoulder as he shakes his head and starts walking along the balcony. He leans on the railing and watches Xander go.


	7. Angel

In the Master's lair, Collin tosses stones into the pool. When he runs out, he takes a few more from the Master's hand. A few moments later, Darla walks into the lair.

The Master looks at her. "Zachary didn't return from the hunt last night."

"The Slayer." Darla growls.

"Zachary was strong, and he was careful. And still the Slayer takes him...as she has taken so many of my family." He sighs. "It wears thin." He looks to his protégé. "Collin, what would you do about it?"

"I'd annihilate her." The boy says.

The Master takes a deep breath. "Out of the mouths of babes." He says, pleased.

Darla steps closer to them. "Let me do it, Master. Let me kill her for you."

The Master narrows his eyes at her. "You have a personal interest in this."

"I don't get to have any fun." She looks at her feet, pouting.

"I will send the Three."

Darla looks up. "The Three?"

 

In an alley, three thugs light their cigarettes. The Three come around a corner at a steady, deliberate pace. The men watch them warily before leaving.

 

At the Bronze, a cockroach is being chased along the floor.

"Get it! Go get it, right there!" A boy points.

The girl slams her foot down on the roach. "I got it!" She holds the roach up to the bartender and drops it into his jar. "Free drink, please." The bartender nods his head and goes to get the drink.

Willow, Trinity, and Buffy watch on from their table. "Ah, the fumigation party."

"Hmm?" Buffy hums, spaced out.

"It's an annual tradition." Willow explains. "The closing of the Bronze for a few days to nuke the cockroaches?"

"Oh." She says, still not paying attention.

"It's a lot of fun..." Willow trails off, seeing that Buffy is only half listening. "What's it like where  _you_  are?"

Buffy looks up and smiles. "I'm...sorry, I was just...thinking about things..."

"So, we're talking about a guy?" Trinity asks.

"Not exactly a guy." Buffy says. "For us to have a conversation about a guy; there'd have to be a guy for us to have a conversation about. Is that a sentence?"

Willow smiles at her. "You lack a guy."

"I do. Which is fine with me, most of the time, but..."

"What about Angel?"

Buffy raises her eyebrows. "Angel? I can just see him in a relationship. 'Hi, honey, you're in grave danger. I'll see you next month.'"

"He's not around much, it's true." Willow says. Trinity nods in agreement.

"When he is around...it's like the lights dim everywhere else." She says dreamily. "You know how it's like that with some guys?"

"Oh, yeah!" Willow says before looking over at Xander, who is on the dance floor looking like a fool.

 

Xander dances up to a girl. "Hey, Annie!" He then notices her boyfriend, who glares at him. "Dino, just leaving!" He backs away and bumps into Cordelia.

"Ouch!" Cordelia glares at Xander. "Please get your extreme oafishness off my two-hundred-dollar shoes!"

"I'm sorry, I was just-" He starts but Cordelia interrupts him.

"Getting off the dance floor before Annie Vega's boyfriend squashes you like a bug?"

"Oh, so you noticed."

"Uh-huh." She nods.

"Yeah, thanks for being so understanding."

"Sure."

"Y'know, hey, I don't know what everyone's talking about. That outfit doesn't make you look like a hooker!" He laughs before making his way off the dance floor and over to Buffy, Trinity, and Willow. "Boy, that Cordelia is a regular breath of vile air. What are you vixens up to?"

"Just sitting here, watching our barren lives pass us by." Willow says before looking down. "Oh, look, a cockroach." She stomps on it.

Buffy lifts her eyes to see before looking back down.

"Whoa, well, let's stop this crazy whirligig of fun! I'm dizzy!" Xander says sarcastically.

Buffy sits up straight. "Alright, now I'm infecting those nearest and dear to me. I'm gonna call it a night." She stands up.

"Oh, don't go!" Willow says.

"Uh, yeah! It's early! We could, um, dance!" Xander suggests.

"Rain check?" Buffy tells him. "Good night." She leaves.

Xander lets out a breath. Willow holds her shoe up to him. "Want a free drink?" She offers.

Seeing that it doesn't lift her friends' spirit, Trinity gets up and takes Xander's hand. "I'll dance with you." She leads him onto the dance floor.

 

Buffy walks out of the Bronze with a glum look on her face. She passes the stairs, not seeing Angel watching her. She senses something and turns around, only to see that nothing's there. She sighs and continues walking.

 

Buffy walks home when suddenly she stops, sensing something. She turns around but doesn't see anything. She continues walking. As she passes and alley she hears breathing and stops. "It's late, I'm tired, and I don't wanna play games. Show yourself."

Suddenly, one of the Three roars and drops down to the sidewalk behind her. She reaches into her coat, pulls out a stake and quickly spins around to stake the vampire only for another to grab her arm as she swings, stopping her. "Wuh!" Buffy let's out, surprised. The third member comes up on her other side and grabs her other arm. "Ooh! Okay, okay, nice..." She tries to calm them as they pull her into the alley and push her against a fence. "Okay, okay." Buffy says. "Look, I really don't wanna fight all three of you...unless I have to." Just as she finishes speaking she snap kicks him in the crotch, elbows the third, and tries to punch the second. He blocks her swing and thrusts his knee into her gut, slamming her into the fence. The other two recover and grab her again. The second one slowly approaches her with death in his eyes. Buffy struggles to get away, terror in her eyes.

The vampire grabs her head and moves in to bite when suddenly, Angel appears behind him. He grabs the vampire by the hair and pulls him off of Buffy. "Good dogs don't," He punches the vampire. " _bite!_ "

Buffy looks at him in shock before regaining her bearings. Using the support of the two vampires holding onto her arms, she kicks up with both feet and hits them both in the face with a straddle kick. One of them grabs her again and holds her against the fence. Angel continues to fight the other two, punching one and snap kicking the second. One of them pulls a piece of iron bar off of a window. "Look out!" She shouts.

Angel turns around, only to be sliced in the chest with the bar. Buffy shoves an open palm into her assailant's chin, pushing him off of her, punches him once in the gut and then slams both fists into his head. Angel is bent over in pain and is about to be stabbed again. Buffy quickly side kicks his attacker in the face, and he falls back away from Angel. She helps him up.

"Run!" She leads him out of the alley. The Three get up and chase after them.

Buffy sees her house in the distance. She and Angel jump over the bushes in front of her house and run onto the porch. The Three are hot on their trail. Buffy gets the front door open. "Get in! C'mon!" She rushes inside. Angel follows after her. Buffy slams the door on one of the vampire's hands. He struggles a moment, but pulls his hand back out. She slams the door shut and locks it. The vampire looks in through the glass. Another one looks in through the window.

"It's alright. A vampire can't come in unless it's invited." Angel explains.

"I've heard that before, but I've never put it to the test." She leans back against the door. She sees Angel's wound. "Oh...I'll go get some bandages, just...take your jacket and your shirt off." She tells him before heading into the kitchen. Angel looks out the window one last time before following after her, taking off his jacket and shirt. Buffy looks at him and see the tattoo of a griffin straddling a large 'A' on his right shoulder. She brings over the first aid kit. "Nice tattoo." She lets out a breath of relief. "I was lucky you came along." She looks up at him. "How did you happen to come along?" She asks as she begins to bandage him.

"I live nearby. I was just out walking." Angel tells her.

"So, you weren't following me? I just had this feeling you were."

"Why would I do that?" He asks, smiling.

"You tell me. You're the Mystery Guy that appears out of nowhere. I'm not saying I'm not happy about it tonight, but...if you are hanging around I'd like to know why." She finishes bandaging him.

"Maybe I like you." Angel says, looking into her eyes.

Buffy smiles at him. "Maybe..." They get lost in each other's eyes. After a moment Buffy hears the door open and quickly goes to intercept her mom with a look of worry on her face. She pulls her mother into the house and closes the door, hoping The Three aren't still lingering around.

"Hi! What are you doing?" Joyce asks, seeing Buffy looking out the window.

"There's a lot of weird people outside at night..." Buffy says. She turns around and sees her mother heading towards the kitchen. She follows after her. "...II just feel better with you safe and sound inside. You must be beat."

"I am." Joyce says, a slight grimace on her face. "We're a little gallery. You have no idea how much-"

"Well, then why don't you go upstairs and get into bed, and I can bring you some hot tea?" Buffy interrupts her.

Joyce smiles. "That's sweet!" She says before looking at her daughter in suspicion. "What'd you do?"

"Can't a daughter just be concerned about her mother?"

Joyce sees Angel walk into the room behind Buffy. "Hi." She says, wondering why this man in her house.

"Hi." Angel greets.

Buffy looks between them with a slight look of panic on her face. "Oh! Okay...um...Angel, uh, this is my mom. Mom, this is Angel. Uh, we ran into each other on the way home."

"Nice to meet you." Angel says.

Joyce looks at him. "What do you do, Angel?"

"He's a student." Buffy blurts out. Her mother shoots her a look of disbelief. "Uh, first year community college. Angel's been helping me with my history; you know I've been toiling there."

"It's a little late for tutoring. I'm gonna go to bed, and, uh, Buffy?" Joyce says as she begins to walk up the stairs.

"I'll say good night and do the same!" Buffy tells her.

Joyce looks back down at her daughter and nods before turning to Angel. "It was nice to meet you."

 

Buffy holds up the front door. "Good night! We'll hook up soon and do that study thing!" She says loudly before shutting the door.

Angel stands behind it and quietly follows Buffy up the stairs and into her room. "Look, I don't wanna get you in any more trouble-" He starts.

"And I don't wanna get you dead. They could still be out there." Buffy says, standing in the middle of the room. "So, uh..." She realizes the sleeping situation. "Oh...two of us. One bed. That doesn't work." She turns to face him. "Um, why don't you take the bed? Y'know, you're wounded..."

"I'll take the floor."

"Uh, no, that's not-"

"Oh, believe me, I've had worse." He tells her with a reassuring smile on his face. "Okay. Um, then why don't you check and see if the Fang Gang is still loitering and, um, keep your back turned while I change?"

Angel looks out the window while Buffy goes to her closet and changes. "I don't see them."

"Y'know, I'm the Chosen One, it's my job to fight guys like that. What's your excuse?"

"Uh, somebody has to."

"Well, what does your family think of your career choice?"

"They're dead." He reveals.

She looks at him, now finished changing. She walks over to him. "Was it vampires?"

Angel turns to face her. "I-it was."

"I'm sorry."

"It was a long while ago."

"So, this is a vengeance gig for you."

He pauses. "Y-you even look pretty when you go to sleep." He says, changing the subject.

"Well, when I wake up it's an entirely different story." They go over to the bed and she hands him a comforter. "Here. Sleep tight." He lays the comforter down on the floor next to her bed and lies down while she tucks herself in. "Angel?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you snore?"

"I don't know. It's been a long time since anybody's been in a position to let me know." He turns his head to look at her. She smiles and settles in to sleep.

 

The next day, Buffy talks to the scoobies in the library.

"He spent the night? In your room? In your bed?" Xander asks. Trinity sighs as she hears the hint of jealousy and panic in his voice. Buffy and Willow on the other hand, don't.

"Not  _in_  my bed." Buffy defends. " _By_ my bed."

Willow smiles. "That is so romantic! Did you, uh...I mean, did he, uh..."

Buffy smiles at her. "Perfect gentleman."

"Buffy, c'mon, wake up and smell the seduction. It's the oldest trick in the book." Xander tells her.

Buffy looks at him. "What? Saving my life? Getting slashed in the ribs?"

"Duh! I mean, guys'll do anything to impress a girl. I-I once drank an entire gallon of Gatorade without taking a breath." Xander grins.

Trinity nods. "It was pretty impressive. Although later there was an ick factor."

Giles walks up to the table. "Can we steer this riveting conversation back to the events that happened earlier in the evening?" He asks. Buffy sighs as she sits down. "You left the Bronze and were set upon by three unusually virile vampires." He sets a book down in front of her. "Did they look like this?"

Buffy nods as she looks at the picture. "Yeah. What's with the uniforms?"

"It seems you encountered the Three. Warrior vampires, very proud and very strong."

"How is it you always know this stuff? You always know what's going on. I never know what's going on." Willow says.

Giles looks at her. "Well, you weren't here from midnight until six researching it."

"No, I was sleeping."

Giles turns his attention back to Buffy. "Uh, o-obviously you're hurting the Master very much. He, he wouldn't send the, the Three for just anyone. We must step up our training with weapons."

"Buffy, you should stay at my house until these Samurai guys are history." Xander offers.

Buffy turns to him. "What?"

"Ah-ah-ah, don't worry about Angel, Willow can run to your house and tell him to get out of town fast."

"Angel and Buffy are, are not in any immediate jeopardy. Eventually the Master will send someone else, but in the meantime the Three, having failed, will offer their own lives in penance." Giles explains.

 

The Three kneel in front of the Master.

"We failed in our duty, and now our lives belong to you." The vampire says, handing a spear to the Master, who passes it to Darla. She starts to walk around behind the Three as the Master goes over to Collin.

"Pay attention, child. You are the Anointed, and there is much you must learn." The Master says, crouching beside him. "With power comes responsibility. True, they did fail, but also true, we who walk at night share a common bond. The taking of a life; I'm not talking about humans of course, is a serious matter."

One of the Three raises his head in hope.

"So you would spare them?" Collin asks.

"Hmm." The Master stands up. "I am weary, and their deaths will bring me little joy." He begins to walk away, and Collin follows. Darla watches them go and smiles. She lifts the spear and kills the first of The Three. The Master stops and turns to Collin. "Of course, sometimes a little is enough." He looks over at Darla as she kills the next one before continuing away.

 

Giles sets a sign outside the library that says 'Library CLOSED for filing. Please come back tomorrow.' He walks back inside and sees Buffy and Trinity checking out the weapons cabinet.

"Cool! Crossbow!" Buffy says, lifting it out and looks at the bolts. "Huh. Check out these babies." Trinity hands her a bolt. "Hmm. Goodbye stakes, hello flying fatality." She looks at Giles. "What can I shoot?"

"Me first!" Trinity says.

"Um, nothing. The crossbow comes later." Giles tells them, taking the crossbow from Buffy and putting it back. The two girls pout. "You must first become proficient with the basic tools of combat." He doesn't notice the bored look on Buffy's face as he takes out different weapons. "And let's begin..." He comes out of the cage. "With the quarterstaff. Which, incidentally, will, uh, require countless hours of vigorous training. I speak from experience." He hands one to Buffy. "You first. Trinity, you will take over once we're done." Trinity nods and walks away, hopping on a table and watching the two.

Buffy sighs. "Giles, 20th Century? I'm not gonna be fighting Friar Tuck."

"You never know with whom or what you'll be fighting." He puts on his head pads. "And these traditions have been handed down through the ages." He explains grabbing his staff and readies himself. "Now, you show me good, steady progress with the quarterstaff, and in due course we'll discuss the crossbow. Put on your pads."

Buffy laughs at him. "I'm not gonna need pads to fight you."

"Well, we'll see about that. En garde!" He makes several thrusts and she parries them all. She takes the offensive, pushes his staff to the floor and punches him in the face. She comes around with the staff into his back and again to knock his legs out from under him. He falls onto his back and looks at the teenager standing above him with a stunned expression. "Good. Let's move on to the crossbow."

 

While Buffy practices with the crossbow, Giles stands in front of Trinity with his staff. "Buffy is the Slayer." He says. "Her skills are instinctive. But  _you_ are a neko. You have a few advantages but must learn as everyone else." He thrust at her and Trinity parries his strike away, light dancing out of the way of his other strikes, making him hit only air. She knocks the staff out of his hands and sweeps his legs from underneath him as Buffy did.

Buffy watches the fight with amusement and holds up the crossbow. "Want a turn?" She asks.

 

That night, Buffy walks into her room and closes the door. "Angel?" She looks around.

"Hey." He greets from the shadows.

Buffy turns on her desk lamp. "Brought you some dinner. It's a little plate-less, sorry." She hands him a plastic bag full of food of leftovers from dinner. "So! What'd you do all day?"

"Uh, I read a little." He tells her. Buffy looks around the room and notices that some things are out of place. Her eyes widen when she spots a journal on her bed. "And just thought about a lot of things. Buffy, I-"

"My diary?" She interrupts. "You read my diary?" She walks over to it and stuffs it in her drawer. "That is  _not_ okay! A diary is like a person's most private place!" She walks over to him. "I...you don't even know what I was writing about! 'Hunk' can mean a lot of things, bad things. And, and when it says that your eyes are 'penetrating', I meant to write 'bulging'."

"Buffy-"

"And 'A' doesn't even stand for 'Angel' for that matter, it stands for...'Achmed', a charming foreign exchange student, so that whole fantasy part has nothing to even do with you at all-"

"Your mother moved your diary when she came in to straighten up. I watched from the closet. I didn't read it, I swear." He tells her.

She looks at him, shocked. "Oh!" She looks down in embarrassment. "Oh."

"I did a lot of thinking today. I really can't be around you." He says. Buffy's head snaps up. "Because when I am..."

Buffy looks down. "Hey, no big. Water...over the bridge, under the bridge..."

"When I am all I can ever think about is how badly I want to kiss you."

"...over the dam." She looks up, hearing what he said. "Kiss me?"

"I'm older than you, and this can't ever...I better go."

"H-how much older?"

"I should..."

Buffy steps closer to him. "...go...you said..." She trails of as he kisses her. They pull back a bit before kissing again, this time more passionately. She wraps her arms around him as their lips dance over each other. Suddenly, Angel pulls back and looks away. "What? What is it? What's wrong?" He turns to face her and growls, his eyes yellow and brows ridged. Buffy screams as she realizes that he's a vampire. Angel looks at her before jumping out the window, sliding down the roof and onto the ground. Buffy goes to the window and watches him run away.

Joyce rushing into the room. "Buffy, what happened?"

Buffy backs away from the window and Joyce takes her by the shoulders. She looks at her mother and shakes her head. "Uh, nothing. I saw a shadow."

They both look out the window.

 

The next morning at Sunnydale High, the scoobies walk up the steps towards the building.

"Angel's a vampire?" Willow asks.

"I can't believe this is happening." Buffy says. "One minute we were kissing, and the next minute..." She turns to Giles. "Can a vampire ever be a good person? Couldn't it happen?"

"A vampire isn't a person at all." The man clears his throat. "It may have the movements, the, the memories, even the personality of the person that it took over, but i-it's still a demon at the core, there is no halfway."

"So that'd be a no, huh?" Trinity says.

"Well, then what was he doing? Why was he good to me? Was it all some part of the Master's plan? It doesn't make sense!" Buffy says as they sit down on a bench.

"Alright, uh..." Xander sits down and looks at Buffy. "You have a problem, and it's not a small one. Let's take a breath and look at this calmly and objectively. Angel's a vampire. You're a Slayer. I think it's obvious what you have to do." He grins. When she doesn't react he looks at Giles for support.

Giles crouches down. "Uh, it is a Slayer's duty-" He starts but Xander interrupts.

"I-I know you have feelings for this guy, but it's not like you're in love with him, right?" Buffy looks away and Xander looks at her in disbelief. "You're in love with a vampire?! What, are you outta your mind?!"

"What?!" They hear Cordelia shout.

Xander turns to look at her, caught. "Not vampire." He turns to Buffy. "How could you love an  _umpire_? Everyone hates 'em!"

Turns out, Cordelia's not paying attention to them. She's looking at another girl who's wearing the same dress as she is. "Where did you get that dress?" She walks up to the girl. "This is a one-of-a-kind Todd Oldham. Do you know how much this dress cost? Is this a knockoff?" She checks the label on the girl's dress. "This is a knockoff, isn't it?! Some cheesy knockoff! This is exactly what happens when you sign these free trade agreements!" The two girls disappear into the building.

The scoobies watch the scene. "You think  _we_ have problems." Trinity says.

 

Angel unlocks the door to his apartment and walks in. He closes the door and goes to turn on a lamp. He tenses when he senses a presence. "Who's here?"

"A friend." Darla answers. He quickly turns to face her at the sound of her voice. Darla walks out of the shadows in her schoolgirl uniform. "Hi. It's been a while."

"A lifetime."

"Or two, but who's counting?"

Angel looks at her outfit. "What's with the Catholic schoolgirl look? Last time I saw you it was kimonos."

"And last time I saw you it wasn't high school girls." She flares her skirt. "Don't cha like?" She walks up to him. "Remember Budapest? Turn of the century? You were such a bad boy during that earthquake."

"You did some damage yourself."

"Is there anything better than a natural disaster?" She walks away from him. "The panic. The people lost in the streets. It's like picking fruit off the vine." She looks at his bed. "Nice! You're living above ground, like one of them. You and your new friend are attacking us, like one of them." She walks over to the window. "But guess what, precious? You're  _not_ one of them." She opens the blinds, letting in a stream of sunlight. Angel blocks his eyes as he stumbles out of the way of the light. "Are you?"

"No. But I'm not exactly one of you either."

Darla walks over to his refrigerator. "Is that what you tell yourself these days?" She opens it and sees bags and bottles of blood. "You're not exactly living off quiche." She closes the fridge. "You and I both know what you hunger for." She walks back over to him. "What you need. Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of. It's who we are. It's what makes eternal life worth living." She caresses his face. "Mm. You can only suppress your real nature for so long. You can feel it brewing inside of you. I hope I'm around when it explodes."

"Maybe you don't wanna be." He says darkly.

"I'm not afraid of you. I bet she is, though." She starts to leave but turns around. "Or maybe I'm underestimating her. Talk to her. Tell her about the curse. Maybe she'll come around. And if she still doesn't trust you, you know where I'll be." She leaves.

Angel glares at the door as it shuts.

 

Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Trinity are in the library looking through books.

Giles walks up behind Xander. "Here's something at last."

Xander jumps at the sound of his voice. "Can you please warn us before you do that?"

"There's nothing about Angel in the texts, but it suddenly occurred to me that it's been ages since I've read the diaries of any of the watchers before me."

"That must've been so embarrassing when you thought he had read your diary, but then it turned out he hadn't, but then he felt the same way..." Willow trails off, seeing the unamused look Xander shoots her. "I'm listening."

"There's mention some two hundred years ago in Ireland of, of Angelus, the one with the angelic face." Giles continues.

"They got that right." Buffy says.

Xander clears his throat. "I'm not saying anything, I have nothing to say."

"Does this, uh, Angel have, um, a tattoo behind his right shoulder?"

"Yeah, it's a, it's a bird or something." Buffy tells him.

At that, Xander speaks up. "Now I'm sayin' something." He looks at Buffy. "You saw him naked?"

"So, Angel's been around for a while." Trinity says.

"Not long for a vampire. Uh, two hundred and forty years or so." Giles tells them.

"Huh! Two hundred and forty." Buffy sighs. "Well, he said he was older."

Giles takes a seat and looks through the diary. "Angelus leaves Ireland, uh, wreaks havoc in, in Europe for, uh, several decades, and then, um, about eighty years ago, the most curious thing happens. He, he comes to, uh, to America, um, shuns other vampires, and, and lives alone. There's, there's no, no record of him hunting here."

"So he  _is_  a good vampire!" Willow smiles. "I mean, on a scale of one to ten, ten being someone who's killing and maiming every night, and one being someone who's...not."

"I said that there's no record, but, uh, vampires hunt and kill. It's, it's what they do." Giles explains.

"Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly." Xander says.

Buffy shakes her head. "He could've fed on me. He didn't."

"Question." Xander looks at Giles. "A hundred years or so before he came to our shores, what was he like then?"

"Uh, like all of them. Uh, a vicious, violent animal." Giles tells him.

 

"Don't think I'm not grateful, you letting me kill the Three." Darla tells the Master.

"How can my children learn if I do everything for them?" He says.

"But you've gotta let me take care of the Slayer."

The Master narrows his eyes at her. "Oh! You're giving me orders now!"

Darla walks away. "Okay, then, we'll just do nothing while she takes us out one by one."

"Do I sense a plan, Darla?" He asks. She turns to face him. "Share."

She walks back over to him. "Angel kills her and comes back to the fold."

"Angel!" The Master's face lights up. "He was the most vicious creature I ever met. I miss him."

"So do I."

The Master looks at her in thought. "Why would he kill her if he feels for her?"

"To keep her from killing him."

"Hmm." He turns to Collin. "You see how we all work together for the common good? That's how a family is supposed to function!"

 

Willow and Buffy are studying in the library. "Okay, so let's review. Reconstruction began when?" Willow asks. When she doesn't get an answer, she looks at Buffy. "Buffy?"

"Huh?" Buffy looks up, now paying attention. "Oh! Um, reconstruction. Uh, reconstruction began after the...construction, which was...shoddy, so they had to reconstruct."

"After the destruction of the Civil War." Willow informs her.

Buffy nods. "Right. Civil War. During which Angel was already, like, a hundred and change."

"Are we gonna talk about boys, or are we gonna help you pass history?" Willow asks. Buffy looks at the girl and closes her book. "Sometimes I have this fantasy that Xander's just gonna grab me and kiss me right on the lips." Willow says, a bright smile on her lips.

"You want Xander, you've gotta speak up, girl!"

Willow shakes her head. "No, no, no, no. No speaking up. That way leads to madness and sweaty palms." Neither of them see Darla peek out from behind the stacks. "Okay, so here's something I gotta know. When Angel kissed you...I mean before he turned into...how was it?"

Buffy smiles. "Unbelievable!"

"Wow! And it is kinda novel how he'll stay young and handsome forever, although you'll still get wrinkly and die, and...oh, and what about the children?" Buffy sends her and upset look. "I'll be quiet now."

Buffy shakes her head. "No, it's okay. I need to hear this. I need to get over him so I can..."

"So that you can..." Willow trails off, making a staking motion.

"Like Xander said, I'm the Slayer, and he's a...vampire. God, I can't! He's never done anything to hurt me..." She trails off as she collects herself. "Okay, no, I need to stop thinking about this. Okay, let's give another half an hour and maybe something will sink in. And then I'm going home for some major moping." Darla smiles and backs away.

"Okay. The era of the congressional reconstruction, usually called radical..."

 

At her house, Xander and Trinity lie on her bed, side by side. "I can't believe she's in love with him!" He says, tossing a foam ball in the air and catching it. "I mean, he's a vampire. She's  _literally_ made to kill him, how can she fall in love with him!"

Trinity shrugs. "You can't control how you feel. Some thing's just happen."

Xander catches the ball and looks at her. "How can you be so calm about this?" He asks. "I mean, you're not jumping for joy like Willow is but you're not on the 'let's kill Angel' wagon either."

"I'm looking at it from both sides." She tells him. "On one hand, Angel's a vampire. He's done horrible things in his past, but it looks like he's turned a new leaf. At the same time, he has nothing to offer Buffy when it comes to a long term relationship. He will never be able to take her out in the sun, grow old with her, give her children..." She sighs. "On the other hand, Buffy is The Slayer. A girl who doesn't have a long life span because of the life she lives and will be very lucky if she makes it to 20 years old. If Angel really  _is_ good, should we stop her from being happy while she has the chance?"

Xander sighs, a look of thought on his face.

 

At the Summers' house, Joyce does her taxes with a mug of coffee beside her. She hears a creaking on the porch and gets up to investigate. She looks out the window, but doesn't see anything. She opens the door a bit and peaks out, seeing that there's nothing outside. She closes the door and heads to the front of the house, not seeing Darla in the window with her face changed. Joyce slowly walks through the living room and hears a knocking on the door. She looks out the window and sees Darla with her human face on and opens the door. "Hello?" She says.

Darla smiles. "Hi! I'm Darla? A friend of Buffy's?"

"Oh!" Joyce sighs in relief. "Nice to meet you."

Darla sighs with an expectant look on her face. "She didn't mention anything about me coming over for a study date, did she?"

"No, I thought she was studying with Willow at the library."

"She is. Willow's the Civil War expert, but then I was supposed to help her with the War of Independence. My family kinda goes back to those days."

"Well, I, I know she's supposed to be home soon. Would you like to come in and wait?"

Darla smiles as she steps through the threshold. "It's very nice of you to invite me into your home."

"You're welcome. I've been wrestling with the IRS all night. Would you like something to eat?" Joyce asks, walking into the kitchen.

Darla looks at Joyce's neck. "Yes, I would." She says with a smirk on her face, following the woman into the kitchen.

"Let's see what we have. Do you feel like something little or something big?" Joyce asks, looking through the cabinets.

Darla's face changes. "Something big!"

 

Angel walks up to the Summer's house. He goes to knock on the door, but then then decides to leave. As he goes he hears Joyce scream. He runs around to the back door and kicks it in. He sees Darla, her teeth sunk in the woman's neck. "Let her go!"

Darla pulls her mouth away from the woman and looks at him. "I just had a little, there's plenty more. Aren't you hungry for something warm after all this time? Come on, Angel. Just say  _yes_!" She shoves Joyce into Angel's arms so he can see the bite and smell the blood. He struggles with himself and looks away from the bite. Darla watches with a big smile. Angel looks up at her again with his face changed and growls. "Welcome home." Darla says, walking around them and leaving the house.

Angel continues to struggle with himself. Buffy comes in from the dining room, and Angel looks up.

"Hey! I'm home." She sees her mother in Angel's arms and freezes in fear. Angel bares his fangs and growls.

 

Angel flies through the living room window and tumbles over the porch, through the bushes, and onto the lawn. Buffy comes over to the broken window and looks out at him as he gets up. "You're not welcome here. You come near us and I'll kill you." She tells him. Angel watchers her walk away before leaving.

Buffy grabs the phone and dials 911, kneeling by her mother. "Mom! Mom, can you hear me?!" She says. The operator answers. "Yes, I need an ambulance, 1630 Revello Drive! My mother cut herself, she lost a lot of blood! Please, please hurry!" She drops the phone. "Mom!"

 

Outside, Trinity walks with Xander and Willow through the backyard of the Summers house. The smell of blood fills Trinity's nose. She rushes through the kitchen door. "Buffy!"

Xander and Willow follow behind her and see the scene.

"Oh my god." Xander says.

"What happened?!" Willow asks.

"Angel!" Buffy tells them.

 

Giles rushes down the hospital corridor, trying to find Joyce's room. He finds it and quietly slips in.

 

"Do you remember anything, Mom?" Buffy asks.

Joyce shakes her head. "Just, um, your friend came over...I was gonna make a snack..."

"My friend?" Buffy mistunderstands.

"I guess I slipped and cut my neck on..." She trails off. "The doctor said it looked like a barbecue fork." She looks at Buffy. "We don't have a barbecue fork." She notices Giles. "Are you another doctor?"

Buffy looks up and sees him standing in the room. "Oh! Um...no, Mom, this is Mr. Giles."

"Oh, the librarian from your school!" She nods before sending her daughter a confused look. "What's he doing here?"

"Uh, I-I just came to pay my respects, wish you a speedy recovery." Giles says.

"Boy, the teachers really  _do_  care in this town."

"Get some rest now." Buffy says, kissing her mother on the cheek before she and Giles leave the room.

"She's gonna be okay." Buffy tells the others, who stand in the hallway. "They, they gave her some iron...her, uh, blood count was a, a little..."

"A little low." Giles says. "It presents itself like mild anemia. Uh, you, you were, uh, lucky you got to her as soon as you did."

Buffy looks at him. "Lucky? Stupid."

"Buff, it's not your fault." Xander says.

"No? I invited him into my home. Even after I knew who he was, what he was, and I didn't do anything about it...'cause I had feelings for him, because I cared about him."

"If you care about somebody you care about them." Trinity says.

Willow nods in agreement. "Yeah, you can't change that by..."

"Killing them?" Buffy says. "Maybe not. But I think it's a start." She starts to leave. Trinity follows after her.

"Uh, we'll keep an eye on your mom." Xander calls after them.

"I'll go to your house and see if I can catch his scent and track it." Trinity tells her.

Buffy nods. "I'll check his usual hangouts."

"Buffy!" Giles chases after them and blocks their way.

"You can't stop me. The Three found me near the Bronze and so did he. He lives nearby." She says.

"This is no ordinary vampire." Giles looks around and lowers his voice. "If there is such a thing. Now, he knows you, he, he's faced the Three! I think this is gonna take more than a simple stake."

"So do I."

 

Buffy stands by the weapons cabinet and loads the crossbow.

 

At his apartment, Darla taunts Angel. "She's out hunting you right now. She wants to kill you."

"Leave me alone." Angel says.

"What did you think? Did you think she would understand? That she would look at your face...your true face...and give you a kiss?"

 

Buffy takes a practice shot at an anti-smoking poster, hitting the man in the heart. She lowers the bow.

 

"For a hundred years you've not had a moment's peace because you will not accept who you are. That's all you have to do. Accept it. Don't let her hunt you down. Don't whimper and mewl like a mangy human. Kill! Feed! Live!" She shouts.

Angel jumps up and shoves Darla against the wall, her arms pinned up. "Alright!"

"What do you want?"

"I want it finished!"

"That's good. You're hurting me." She smiles. "That's good, too."

 

Trinity walks through the kitchen door of the Summers' house. She takes a deep breath, and smells Joyce's blood still lingering in the air. She focuses and picks out the scents in the room. She notices Angel's scent. Her brow furrows in confusion as she smells another scent as well.

 

Buffy heads towards the Bronze, crossbow at the ready. She slides through a hole in a fence and walks towards the entrance. She hears glass breaking above her and turns to the noise. She looks around as she goes to the wall and sees a ladder. She starts to climb.

 

"She talks about you all the time." Joyce tells Giles. "It's important to have teachers who make an impression."

"She makes quite an impression herself." He says.

"I-I know she's having trouble with history. I-is it too difficult for her or is she not applying herself?"

"She lives very much in the 'now', um, and, uh, history, of course, is, is very much about the, uh...the 'then'. B-b-but there's no reason..."

"She's studying with Willow, she's studying with Darla, I-I mean, she is trying."

"Darla?" Giles asks. "I-I-I don't believe I know, uh..."

"Her friend, the one who came over tonight."

"Darla came to your house tonight? Sh-she's the friend that you mentioned earlier?"

 

Trinity sprints towards the school, hoping that she can catch Buffy before she leaves.

 

Joyce nods. "Poor thing, I must've frightened her half to death when I fainted. Someone should really check and make sure she's alright."

Giles stands up. "Yes, someone should, right away. I'll do it." He grabs his coat and leaves.

Joyce watches after him. "That school is amazing!"

 

Giles walks down the hallway of the hospital, Xander and Willow at his side. "We have a problem." He tells them.

 

Buffy walks down the stairs. She reaches the bottom and quickly turns to have a look around. Angel backs into the shadows. Buffy hears a noise and pivots toward it. "I know you're there. And I know what you are."

"Do you?" Angel asks. Buffy turns towards the sound of his voice. "I'm just an animal, right?"

"You're not an animal. Animals I like." She continues looking around.

Angel growls and steps out of the shadows, his face changed. Buffy aims the crossbow at him. "Let's get it done!" He growls again and rushes towards the pool table, jumping onto it. Buffy fires the crossbow at him, but misses. Angel jumps up onto the catwalk above. Buffy can't see him in the shadows. He swings down and kicks her in the back, knocking her onto a pool table. She does a standing back kick at him behind her and sends him into the wall. She runs around the table and dives for the crossbow. She rolls onto her back and takes aim at him. He slowly gets up and growls.

 

Trinity runs into the library and sees that the weapons cabinet is open and the crossbow is missing. She sighs and closes her eyes, focusing on the scents in the air. She catches Buffy's and opens her eyes, revealing the slits in them. Her claws come out. She grabs a stake and races out of the library.

 

Angel shifts back to his human face. "C'mon! Don't go soft on me now!" Buffy shoots again and the bolt hits the wall next to him. "Little wide."

"Why?" Buffy asks as she gets up. "Why didn't you just attack me when you had the chance? Was it a joke? To make me feel for you and then...I've killed a lot of vampires. I've never hated one before."

"Feels good, doesn't it? Feels simple."

"I invited you into my home and then you attacked my family!"

"Why not? I killed mine. I killed their friends...and their friend's children..." He tells her. "For a hundred years I offered ugly death to everyone I met, and I did it with a song in my heart."

"What changed?"

"Fed on a girl about your age...beautiful...dumb as a post...but a favorite among her clan."

"Her clan?"

"Romany. Gypsies. The elders conjured the perfect punishment for me. They restored my soul."

"What, they were all out of boils and blinding torment?"

"When you become a vampire the demon takes your body, but it doesn't get your soul. That's gone! No conscience, no remorse..." He explains. "It's an easy way to live. You have no idea what it's like to have done the things I've done...and to care. I haven't fed on a living human being since that day."

"So you started with my mom?" She asks.

"I didn't bite her."

"Then why didn't you say something?"

"But I wanted to. I can walk like a man, but I'm not one. I wanted to kill you tonight."

Buffy looks at the crossbow and back at Angel. She puts the weapon down and walks over to him. She tilts her head, offering her neck. "Go ahead." He looks at her, silent. "Not as easy as it looks."

"Sure it is!" Darla says. They turn toward the voice and see Darla coming out of the shadows.

 

Giles, Willow and Xander walk down the street.

"We're near the Bronze. What now?" Willow asks.

"Keep looking for her." Giles tells her.

"I have a question." Xander says. "What if we find her and she's fighting Angel and some of his friends? What the heck are we gonna do about it?"

 

"Do you know what the saddest thing in the world is?" Darla asks.

Buffy looks at her. "Bad hair on top of that outfit?"

"To love someone who used to love you."

Buffy looks at Angel. "You guys were involved?"

"For several generations." Darla answers.

"Well, you been around since Columbus, you are bound to pile up a few exes. You're older than him, right? Just between us girls, you are looking a little worn around the eyes."

Darla smirks at her. "I made him. There was a time when we shared everything, wasn't there Angelus? You had a chance to come home, to rule with me in the Master's court for a thousand years, but you threw that away because of her. You love someone who hates us. You're sick. And you'll always be sick. And you'll always remember what it was like to watch her die." She smiles. "You don't think I came alone, do you?"

"I know I didn't." She kicks the bow up into her hands and aims it at Darla.

"Hmm, scary." She reaches behind her back and pulls out two pistols. "Scarier." She shoots Angel, making him stagger back into a post. Buffy looks at him in concern. "Oh, don't worry. Bullets can't kill vampires. Can hurt them like hell, but..." She trails off, giggling.

Buffy runs as Darla begins to shoot at her. She does a diving shoulder roll over a pool table and takes cover behind it.

 

Trinity runs towards the Bronze and sees Giles, Willow, and Xander. "Guys!" She shouts. They turn around at the sound of her voice.

"Trinity!" Willow says as she runs up to them.

Suddenly they hear gunshots from inside the Bronze. "Did you just hear...? Xander trails off as the run to find an entrance.

 

Buffy reloads the crossbow.

"So many body parts, so few bullets. Let's begin with the kneecaps. No fun dancing without them." Darla says, shooting the guns once again. The bullets hit the pool table. Buffy pops up and shoots the crossbow. Darla doubles over when a bolt hits her in the abdomen. Buffy watches as she straightens back up again. "Close, but no heart." She grabs the bolt, pulls it out and tosses it aside.

 

Giles, Willow, Trinity, and Xander crawl along the floor.

"We need to distract her, fast!" Xander says.

Trinity nods and quickly crawls away from them. "Buffy, it wasn't Angel who attacked your mom, it was Darla!" She yells. Darla turns toward the voice and shoots at it. Trinity rolls out of the way as the bullets sail past her. Giles, Willow, and Xander hug the floor for cover.

Angel pulls the bolt from the wall. Darla turns her attention back to Buffy and hops up onto the pool table. Buffy jumps up, grabs the edge of the table and pulls, knocking Darla onto her back. She pushes the table away and starts to run for cover. Darla fires off a few rounds as she rides the table across the floor. Buffy leaps for cover over a glass case in a dive roll as bullets break it all around her.

Once the pool table stops sliding, and Darla gets up to look for Buffy. She hops off of it and advances on the counter while shooting. Giles gets up and messes with the lighting system controls. The strobes come on. Darla looks up at him and stops shooting. Buffy takes the opportunity to change position. Darla sees her move and begins to fire again.

"C'mon, Buffy. Take it like a man!" Darla shouts. Suddenly Angel comes up behind her, roars and plunges the bolt into her back. She cries out in pain and shock. She turns to look at her attacker. "Angel?" She falls to the floor and bursts into ashes.

Buffy rises up to see. Angel looks up from Darla's ashes to Buffy. She comes out from behind the counter. He looks at her a moment longer and then turns and leaves. Buffy is speechless as she watches him go.

 

The Master screams as her smashes a tall candleholder in anger. He flails out with his arms and knocks other objects over. He sinks to the ground in grief.

Collin walks over to him. "Forget her."

The Master looks up at him in anger. "How dare you? She was my favorite. For four hundred years-"

"She was weak. You don't need her. I'll bring you the Slayer."

"But to lose her to Angel!" He says despondently. "He was to have sat at my right hand, come the day. And now..."

"They're all against you. But soon you shall rise. And when you do," He puts a hand on the Master's shoulder. "we'll kill them all."

The Master smiles at him and stands up. Collin takes his hand and leads him away.

 

At the Bronze, Buffy, Willow, and Xander sit at a table.

"Ah, the post-fumigation party." Xander says.

"Too bad Trinity couldn't come." Willow says. "She never shows up to this. I guess it makes more sense now than it did before. Her being a neko and all...she can still smell the fumes."

"Okay, so what's the difference between this and the pre-fumigation party?" Buffy asks.

"Much hardier cockroaches." Xander says.

"So, no word from Angel?" Willow asks.

Buffy shakes her head. "Nah. It's weird, though. In his way I feel like he's still watching me."

"Well, in a way he sort of is. In the way of that he's right over there." Willow nods towards his direction.

Buffy follows her gaze and sees Angel. She briefly looks back at Willow before heading over.

Xander turns in his seat. "I don't need to watch because I'm not threatened. Just gonna look this way." He and Willow face away from the direction.

Buffy and Angel slowly make their way towards each other as the crowd slowly dance to the song.

_Did they know what they wanted_

_The times they kissed me?_

_And your hands I held in mine_

The two reach each other.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay. And your mother." Angel says.

"We're both good. You?" Buffy asks.

"If I can go a little while without getting shot or stabbed I'll be alright. Look, this can't-" He starts but Buffy interrupts him.

"Ever be anything." She finishes. "I know. For one thing, you're, like, 224 years older than I am."

"I just gotta...I gotta walk away from this."

She nods. "I know. Me too." She whispers. "One of us has to go here."

"I know." Angel whispers before leaning into kiss her.

Buffy wraps her hands behind his neck as the kiss deepens.

_Your eyes_

_That always make me shiver_

_Now they are closed_

_They just sometimes twitch a little_

"What's going on?" Xander asks, still not looking in the direction Buffy and Angel are.

Willow watches the two kiss. "Nothin'..."

"Well, as long as they're not kissing."

_And your body_

_I could hold for an hour_

_It sent me to Heaven_

_With its heat and power_

Buffy and Angel slowly pull their lips away from each other.

"You okay?" She asks.

Angel nods. "It's just..."

"Painful. I know. See you around?

_I'll remember you_

_You will be there in my heart_

_I'll remember you_

_And that is all that I can do_

_But I'll remember_

Buffy walks away and Angel watches her go. She doesn't see that her cross has left a deep burn in Angel's chest.


	8. I, Robot... You, Jane

_Cortona, Italy, 1418_

Carlo stands by the window and looks to his master.

"Carlo,  _caro mio_." (Carlo, my dear one.) A deep voice calls to him. Carlo walks deep into the room and kneels in front of the demon, Moloch. " _Mi ami? Ti darò tutto. Tutto quello che desidero è il tuo amore."_ (Do you love me? I can give you everything. All I want is your love.)

" _Tu hai il mio amore."_ (You have my love.) Carlo says.

The demon growls before grabbing the man's head and twisting it, snapping his neck.

 

Inside a church, a priest, Thelonius speaks to the torch bearing monks.  _"E fuori. E il diavolo, Molocco. E fuori nel mondo, facendo tante cose male. Abbiamo bisogno di fare il circolo."_ (It is Moloch. The Corrupter. He walks again. More and more people have fallen under his mesmerizing power. There is still time to bind him. We must form the circle.) He explains, opening a large blank book.  _"Per potere di questo circolo di Kahless..."_ (By the power of the circle of Kahless...)

 

Moloch smiles as Carlo's body falls to the floor. Suddenly he looks up and frowns as he sense that something is wrong. "No!"

 

" _Per potere di questo circolo di Kayless, ti commando! Vieni!"_ (By the power of the circle of Kayless, I command you! Come!) Thelonius chants.

 

Moloch screams in rage.

 

" _Ti commando! Vieni!"_ (I command you! Come!)

 

Moloch continues to scream.

 

" _VIENI!"_ (COME!)

 

Moloch screams as he bursts into millions of pieces.

 

Tiny particles fly through the air and into the book. Thelonius slams it closed once it's done. He walks over to the table and places the book into a thick wooden box.  _"Preghiamo che questo libro è mai letto più..."_ (Pray that this accursed book is never again read.) He puts the lid on.  _"Che il demonio Molocco è mai lasciato più fuori nel mondo."_ (Lest the Demon Moloch be loosed upon the world.)

 

Centuries later the lid is lifted off the box. Buffy looks in. "Oh, great! A book!" She says sarcastically. She looks around the library as a few students, as well as Ms. Calendar help scan books for the new computerized catalogue. She pulls the book out of the box and blows some of the dust off of it.

Giles looks up from the book in his hand. "Oh, uh, I, uh...haven't gone through the new arrivals. Uh, put it in, uh..." He motions towards a table. "In, in that pile."

"Here, I'll get it." Dave says, standing up from his computer seat.

"Oh, thanks, Dave. The Willow pile." Buffy says with an appreciative smile. Dave takes the book from Buffy and goes over to the pile of books next to Willow. Trinity happens to be setting several books over by Willow as well. Dave begins to violently sneeze.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Willow asks, concern in her voice.

Dave sneezes again. "My allergies are acting up." He manages to get out before sneezing once again. "I don't understand it though." He says before sneezing again. "Is there a cat in here?" He asks, sneezing once more.

Buffy and Willow's eyes widen and the look at Trinity, who stares at the boy with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry." Trinity tells the boy. "I found my neighbor's cat in my yard this morning and returned it to them. I must have some fur on me somewhere." She lies, quickly scanning her clothes. "I'll just get out of here." She tells him before walking out of the library.

"About the book...uh, when I've examined it, you can, uh, uh, skim it." Giles stammers, once Dave has calmed down.

" _Scan it_ , Rupert." Ms. Calendar corrects him. "That's scan it."

Giles looks at her. "Of course." He says, sarcasm and annoyance clear in his voice.

"Oh, I know, our ways are strange to you, but soon you will join us in the 20th century. With three whole years to spare!" She grins.

Giles shoots her a smug smiled. "Ms. Calendar, I'm sure your computer science class is fascinating, but I happen to believe that one can survive in modern society without being a slave to the, um, idiot box."

"That's  _TV_. The idiot box is TV." She retorts, now annoyed. "This," She points to the computer. "is the  _good_ box!"

"I still prefer a good book."

"The printed page is obsolete." A boy stands up, his head held high in self-righteousness. "Information isn't bound up anymore. It's an entity. The only reality is virtual. If you're not jacked in, you're not alive." He tells Giles before grabbing his books and leaving.

Ms. Calendar stares after the retreating boy. "Thank you, Fritz, for making us all sound like crazy people." She says sarcastically and turns back to Giles. "Fritz...Fritz comes on a little strong, but he does have a point. You know, for the last two years more e-mail was sent than regular mail."

"Oh?" Giles implores.

The woman nods. "More digitized information went across phone lines than conversation."

"That is a fact that I regard with genuine horror."

"I'll bet it is." She says with a teasing smile before turning to the students. "Alright, guys, let's wrap it up for today."

"I've just got a few more. I'll hang for a bit." Willow says as the other students pack up and leave.

"Cool! Thanks." Ms. Calendar smiles.

Willow turns looks at Xander, who pulls his backpack onto his shoulder. "Xander, you wanna stay and help me?"

"Are you kidding?" He asks in disbelief.

"Yes, it was a joke I made up." She says, a little taken aback by his quick rejection.

"Willow, I love you, but bye!" He says before leaving.

"See you tomorrow!" She calls after him.

Xander, showing no signs of hearing her picks up his pace. "Buffy, wait up!"

"I'm, I'm just gonna stay and clean up a little. I'll, uh, I'll be back in the middle ages." Giles says and begins to climb the stairs.

"Did you ever leave?" Ms. Calendar teases. Giles stops and looks at the woman, who smiles to herself; obviously pleased that she was able to get a reaction out of him. He sighs and continues his way up the stairs.

 

Later on, Willow sits alone in the library, scanning the last book. She draws the scanner over the two pages, and they appear on the monitor. As she types in the necessary keys to save the scan, the script in the book disappears. Willow closes the book, puts it in the pile with the others and leaves.

The computer monitor goes blank and Moloch's words appear.

**Where am I?**

 

The next day, Buffy runs down the hallway to catch up to Willow, who slowly walks along. "Willow!" Buffy calls. "Willow, hey, wait up!" She finally reaches her.

Willow looks at her friend. "Oh, Buffy, I didn't even see you."

"Or hear me. What was up last night? I tried your line, like, a million times."

"Oh, I was, I was talking."

"Talking to...?" Buffy trails off but Willow doesn't answer. "Okay, that's it, you have a secret, and that's not allowed."

"Why not?" Willow asks, opening her locker.

"'Cause...there's a rule."

A smile grows on Willow's face. "Well, I sort of met someone."

"I knew it! This is so important! When did you meet?" Buffy asks excitedly.

"Last week after we did the scanning project in the library." She closes her locker.

"Does he go here? What's his name? Have you kissed him? What's he like?"

"No, Malcolm, no, and very nice." Willow answers, amused with her friends rapid questions.

"You are a thing of evil for not telling me this right away!" Buffy tells her, playfully annoyed.

"Well, I wasn't sure there was anything to tell. But last night, oh! We talked all night, it was amazing. He's so smart, Buffy, and, and he's romantic, and we agree about everything!" Willow smiles.

Buffy sighs. "What's he look like?"

"I don't know!" Willow says, a smile still on her face as she walks down the hall.

Buffy stops with a confused look on her face. She stares at her friend for a moment before beginning to follow after her.

 

Cordelia and her clique make their way down the hallway. Just then, Trinity comes from around the corner, colliding with Harmony.

"Sorry." Trinity says.

Harmony stumbles a bit before regaining her footing. "Jeeze, watch were you're going!" She says, looking up. The scowl she has on her face twists into a disgusted frown at the sight of Trinity. "Oh great, it's the lezzy. I don't play for your team so stop looking for ways to grope me." She spits out.

Trinity rolls her eyes and scoffs. "Wow, someone has an ego. Sorry honey, but you are  _so_  not my type."

"Let it go Harm." Cordelia says, attitude in her voice. "We're gonna be late to class."

"Well excuse me for not wanting to be molested." Harmony continues on. "Who knows how long she's been waiting to get her hands on me."

"From what I hear around the school, no one has to wait that long at all to get their hands on you." Trinity smirks.

Harmony glares at her. "What did you just say to me?"

"Harmony." Cordelia says, in a slightly harder tone. "Let's go."

"Fine." She says and scowls at Trinity. "Don't get your hopes up, that's the only time you'll ever get to touch this." She gestures to her body.

"I'll hold my breath." Trinity deadpans. "Like really, I rather hold my breath until I die than touch you."

"We have better things to do. Stop wasting time Harmony." Cordelia scolds the blond. Harmony looks at Cordelia and knows that she's displeased the leader of their clique. She pouts before continuing down the hallway, knowing that she'll have to find a way to get back into Cordelia's good graces now that she's annoyed her. The rest of the Cordette's follow after the blond. Cordelia stares at Trinity for a moment before walking away.

 

In the computer lab, Dave and Fritz type away.

"Yes, I will. I promise." Dave says to the moniter.

 

Buffy and Willow walk into the room. "So, you've been seeing a guy, and you don't know what he looks like?" The blond asks. "Okay, this is a puzzle. No, wait, I'm good at these. Does it involve a midget and a block of ice?"

"I met him online." Willow tells her.

"On line for what?" Buffy asks, confused. Willow points to a computer. "Oh!"

Ms. Calendar strides into the room wearing dark sunglasses on her face. She has a mug of coffee in one and her books in the other. "Morning, kids!" She greets and notices Buffy, who turns to look at her. She puts her mug down. "Buffy, are you supposed to be somewhere?" She asks, taking off her sunglasses.

Buffy shakes her head. "No, I have a free."

"Cool! But this is lab time, so let's make it a nice, short visit, okay?"

The Slayer nods. "Sure."

* _You have mail._ * A computerized voice says.

"It's him!" Willow smiles as she opens the message.

**I'm thinking of you.**

"He's so sweet!" She says.

Buffy nods as she stares at the monitor, a nervous look on her face. "He's a sweetie."

"What should I write back?" Willow asks.

"Uh, Willow...I think it's really great that you have this cool pen pal, but don't you think you're kinda rushing all into this? Y'know what I mean?"

"'I'm thinking of you, too!'" Willow says excitedly, not listening to Buffy. She sighs and her face falls. "No, that's incredibly stupid!" She scolds herself.

"Will, down girl! Let's focus here, okay? What do you actually know about this guy?" Buffy asks.

Willow looks at her, disappointment in her eyes. "Oh, see, I knew you'd react like this."

"Like what? I just wanna make sure you're careful, that's all."

"Buffy..."

"He could be different than you think."

The computer listens to the girl's conversation, looking back and forth between the two before finally focusing on Buffy.

 

In an office, the computer suddenly comes on. The student records quickly scroll across the screen before stopping on Buffy's name. Her record opens and expands.

 

Back in the computer lab, Buffy's record pops up on Fritz's desktop. He begins to read her record. Suddenly the monitor goes blank and a message appears.

**Watch her.**

 

"His name is Malcolm Black, he's eighteen, he lives in Elmwood, which is about eighty miles from here, and he likes me!" Willow explains.

"Short, tall, skinny, fat?" Buffy asks.

"Why does everything have to be about looks?"

"Not everything, but some stuff is. I mean, what if you guys get really, really intense, and then you find out that he...has...a hairy back?"

"Well, no! Uh, he doesn't talk like somebody who would have a hairy back. And anyways, that stuff doesn't matter when you really care about each other. Maybe I'm not his ideal either."

"Hey, I'm just trying to make sure that he's good enough for you. I think it's great that you met someone." Buffy tells her.

 

Ms. Calendar stands from her desk with a stack paper in her hand. She walks over to Fritz. "Hey, Fritz...I'm, uh, lookin' at the logs. You and Dave are clockin' a pretty scary amount of computer time."

The boy looks at her. "New project."

"Ooh, will I be excited?"

"You'll die." He says.

 

Trinity sits in the back of her class, resting her head on one hand as she twirls her pencil in her other.

A boy nearby leers at her. "So I guess you  _are_  good with your fingers, huh?" He asks, motioning to the pencil. Trinity immediately stops twirling the pencil; instead she glares at the boy and easily snaps with writing utensil in her hand. The boy feels a fearful shiver run down his spine at the cold look in the girl's eyes and quickly looks away.

Trinity sighs. It looks like the scene with Harmony didn't go unnoticed. People usually leave her alone now but it seems like the blond airheads outburst inspired a few other idiots to fall back into the habit they had when she first came out. Jokes, names, whispers about her. Her eyes fall. Jesse used to share this class with her. He had actually gotten kicked out of class once when a jock decided to offer his services to  _cure_  her. Sure, later on Jesse got his ass kicked by said jock but it didn't matter to him.

 

_Flashback_

_Jesse and Trinity sit side by side on her bed. Trinity holds an ice pack up to the boy's black eye. "You shouldn't have done that." She tells him._

" _What and just let him get away with what he said to you?" Jesse asks._  


" _Jesse people are always going to talk. You can't fight every time some idiot says something to me. I can handle it."_  


" _I know you can." He says. "But jerks need to know that if they mess with you, then they're messing with me too. Trinity, I will never sit by and watch someone hurt you. I will always be there, kicking ass and taking names."_  


" _See, you say that but usually it's your ass getting kicked. I don't want you to get hurt."_  


" _I don't always lose." He defends himself. "I beat the Ryan kid."_  


" _Jesse, that oaf tripped over the curb and you used that moment to kick him and run. I'm not sure that qualifies as winning."_  


_Jesse shrugs it off. "Technicalities. Besides, you know what they say 'practice makes perfect'."_

" _Jesse..." Trinity sighs._  


_Jesse takes Trinity's hand, pulling the ice pack away from his face. He leans his forehead against hers. "Listen, you're my girl, and I'm never leaving your side. No matter what happens, you'll never be alone. You have Xander, and Willow, and me. That's never going to change."_

_Tears shine in Trinity's eyes and she wraps her arms around the boy's neck, burying her face in his neck. "Thank you." She sniffs._

_Jesse rubs her back comfortably. "No problem." He says. After a few moments he speaks again. "So who do you think is the hottest on the new Star Trek?"_

_Trinity laughs and breaks away from the hug. "Seven of Nine hands down." She answers, wiping a few tears away._

_Jesse smiles at her. "I knew there was a reason we're friends."_

_Flashback End_

 

Unknowingly, a lone tear escapes Trinity's eye as she thinks of her lost friend. The friends she wasn't able to save. She doesn't notice the girl staring at her.

Cordelia turns away before anyone could notice her attention on Trinity. She wonders what's bothering the usually confident girl and why she looks so pained.

 

Outside in the quad, a boy sits on the steps reviewing his report on his laptop. "This isn't my report!" He says, upset. "'Nazi Germany was a model of a well ordered society'? I didn't write that! Who's been in my files?"

Willow walks down the steps, not taking notice of the boy...or anything else around her really. She doesn't notice Xander coming from her right.

He puts his hand over her eyes and stumbles as she comes to a stop. "Sup, guess who?"

"Uh, Xander?" She says.

"Yeah, but keep guessing anyway."

"Xander."

He takes his hand away from her eyes. "Oh, I can't fool ya, you see right through my petty charade. We goin' to the Bronze tonight?"

She smiles. "Not me, I think I'm gonna call it an early night."

"Oh, Malcolm, right?" He says. Willow nods, a smile still on her face. "Yeah, I heard. But you're gonna be missin' out. I'm plannin' to be witty. I'm gonna make fun of all the people who won't talk to me."

"That's nice. Have a good time!" She shoots him a smile before quickly leaving. Xander watches her go.

Buffy walks up next to him and sees Willow's retreating figure. "She certainly looks perky."

"Yeah, color in the cheeks, bounce in the step...I don't like it. It's not healthy." He turns to face her. "So, are you goin' to the Bronze tonight? Oh, probably not, you probably have some vampire slaying or some lame endeavor like that, don't you? Everyone deserts me." He says as they begin to walk.

"Check out the jealous man!" Buffy teases.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're jealous."

"Of what?"

"Willow's got a thang, and Xander's left hanging."

"Oh, that's meaningless drivel. I'm not interested in Willow like that."

"Yeah, but you got used to being the Belle of the Ball."

"No, it's just...this Malcolm guy? What's his deal? I mean, tell me you're not slightly wigged."

"Okay, slightly. I mean, just not knowing what he's really like."

"Or who he really is. I mean, sure he says he's a high school student, but I can say I'm a high school student."

"You are."

"Okay, but I can also say that I'm an elderly Dutch woman. Get me? I mean, who's to say I'm not if I'm in the elderly Dutch chat room?"

"I get your point!" She laughs before her face falls in realization. "I get your point. Oh, this guy could be anybody. He could be weird, or crazy, or old, or...he could be a circus freak." A panicked look crosses her face. "He's probably a circus freak!"

"Yeah. I mean, we read about it all the time. Y'know, people meet on the 'Net, they talk, they get together, have dinner, a show, horrible ax murder."

"Willow ax murdered by a circus freak...okay, okay, what do we do?" She calms down a bit. "What are we doing? Xander, you get me started! We are totally overreacting!"

"But it's fun, isn't it?" He smiles. "Let's asks Trinity what she thinks about it."

"Speaking of Trinity, have you seen her around?"

Xander shrugs. "Not really." His eyes widen. "What if this is happening to her too. What if she has an online girlfriend that she hasn't told us about?"

 

In the computer lab, Fritz stares at the information scrolling across the monitor in a trance. "I'm jacked in. I'm jacked in. I'm jacked in." He repeats as he carves an 'M' into his arm. "I'm jacked in."

 

In the girl's bathroom, Trinity splashes her face with water as she tries to shake off the dark thoughts. She reaches for a paper towel and begins to dry her face.

A toilet flushes and the stall opens, revealing Cordelia, who makes her way over to sink not too far from Trinity and washes her hands. She glances at Trinity from the side of her eyes.

Trinity pulls the paper towel away from her face and takes a deep breath. She throws it away and turns to leave only to find Cordelia standing in front of her. "Look, if you have something to say, just save it. I am  _really_ not in the mood."

Cordelia opens her mouth, wanting to ask the girl what was wrong and for the first time, finds herself speechless. Finally, she finds her voice. "Can you pass me a paper towel?"

Trinity raises her eyebrow, surprised that Cordelia actually  _asked_  for something instead of demanding it. She reaches behind her and pulls a couple of paper towels free, handing them to the girl.

"Thanks." Cordelia says.

Both of Trinity's eyebrows shoot up at the fact that Cordelia showed  _gratitude_. "Whatever." She says before walking around the girl and leaving the room.

 

That night, Buffy and Trinity lazily walk through the cemetery. "So she's been talking to a guy that she's never seen? How can she trust anything that he says?" The neko says, Buffy having explained Willow's situation.

"That's what we thought." Buffy tells her. "I mean, it's not like it's a pen-pal project, she actually  _likes_  the guy."

"The best we can do is watch out for her." Trinity says. "If we see anything suspicious or that she might be getting to deep, then we do something."

"Right." Buffy nods. "Good plan. I'm glad you're the calm one. You didn't freak out like me and Xander."

"There's no use in panicking. We're not going to let Willow get hurt." Trinity says, a faraway look in her eyes.  _I'm not going to lose another friend._  She thinks.

Buffy notices the saddened look on her friends face. "Are you okay?" She asks. "I haven't really seen you around today?"

Buffy's question jolts Trinity out of her thoughts and she shakes her head. "I'm fine. It's nothing. Just stupid stuff."

"Well why don't you tell me anyway?" Buffy asks.

Trinity sighs. "Okay. I bumped into Harmony and she started going off about how I did on purpose just to get a chance to touch her." She sees Buffy go to speak and quickly finishes. "It wasn't some big scene or anything, but a few people saw it. A lot of them just moved on but there's always some jerk that finds something stupid to say."

"Trinity..."

"It's not what they said that bothered me. It just brought up some memories. Not bad ones, I just remembered..." She trails off for a moment. "Jesse was always there for me. It's not like Willow and Xander weren't, because they were. It was different with Jesse. He always wanted to make sure that I was okay. Even when he got beat up by some dumb jock after trying to defend me. He was never worried about himself. As long as he was able to make me smile then his job was done." She looks down. "Something like this hasn't happened in a long time. It's the first time Jesse can't come over to my house with his survival kit."

"Survival kit?" Buffy asks.

A small smile grows on Trinity's face. "He would bring over this huge duffle bag full of everything I loved. Candy, music, movies, books; TV shows...he would do whatever he could to cheer me up. It just became our thing. I guess today just made me realize how much I miss him."

"Sounds like he was an amazing guy."

Trinity nods. "The best."

"I'm sorry." Buffy tells her. "If I was-"

"Jesse's death wasn't your fault." Trinity says. "Believe me; I've spent enough of my time thinking of 'what if's'. It doesn't help. The only thing we can do is keep going on. Stop something like this from happening to other people. I know we can't get them all but we can damn well do our best." Just as she finishes speaking she sees a figure move through the cemetery. "And here's an opportunity."

Buffy follows Trinity's line of sight and sees a man in a suit, as they walk closer she can make out the ridges of his face and the glint of his golden eyes. The vampire looks at them and growls.

Trinity pulls a stake out of her waistband. She looks at the vampire and her eyes change. "You chose a  _really_  bad night to hunt. If it was any other time, I would've made it quick. But I got some anger to work out." She says and rushes towards the vampire.

Buffy stands back and watches her friend.

 

The next day, the girls are in the locker room. Suddenly Willow rushes into the room.

Buffy looks at her. "Whoa! You're the Late Girl."

"I overslept." Willow says as she opens her gym locker.

"Till fifth period?" Trinity asks.

Buffy looks at the red head in concern. "Talkin' to Malcolm last night?"

"Yeah." Willow nods and sees the look on Buffy's face. "What?"

"Nothing."

"You're having an expression."

"I'm not. But if I was, it'd be saying, 'This just isn't like you.'"

"Not like me to have a boyfriend?" Willow asks, defensive.

"He's boyfriendly?"

"I don't understand why you don't want me to have this. I mean, boys don't chase me around all the time. I thought you'd be happy for me."

"just want you to be sure. To meet him face to face. In daylight, in a crowded place with some friends. Y'know, before you become all...obsessive."

"Malcolm and I really care about each other. Big deal if I blow off a couple classes."

"I thought you said you overslept." Buffy says, catching her friends lie.

Willow shakes her head. "Malcolm said you wouldn't understand."

"Malcolm was right."

Willow looks at Trinity. "What about you? You understand right?"

Trinity leans back against her locker. "I think if you and Malcom talk so much, then he knows how much you care about academics. If he cares about you as much as he says, then he wouldn't want your grades or attendance to suffer just so you can talk to him."

Willow looks at Trinity with betrayal and disappointment that she didn't take her side and turns away from the girls. She doesn't see the two girls share a look with each other.

 

Buffy walks into the computer lab and sees Dave. She walks over to him. "Dave?" She says, but he makes not sign of hearing her. "Hey there, Dave. Anybody home?" She puts a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

Dave jolts in shock at the touch and looks at Buffy. "Oh, what do you want?"

"I wanted to ask you something if you have a minute."

"What is it?"

Buffy takes a seat next to him. "Well, you're a computer geek-" She says before realizing it could be taken as an insult and catches herself. " _Genius_ , and, uh, I sort of have a technical problem. If I wanted to find out something about someone, i-if someone e-mailed me, could I trace the letter?"

"Well, you could pull up somebody's profile based on their user name."

"But they write the profile themselves, right? And so they could say anything they wanted."

Dave nods. "True."

"Wow! I had knowledge!" She says, proud of herself. Her excitement makes Dave smile. "Well, is there a way to find out exactly where a letter, an e-letter came from? I mean, the actual location of the computer?"

Dave pauses in thought. "That's a challenge."

"'Cause, you see, Willow's got this boyfriend, Malcolm, and to tell you the truth, I think-" She says but suddenly Dave interrupts her.

"Leave Willow alone." He tells her, an annoyed look on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"That's none of your business." He says strongly.

Buffy looks at him. "Dave, are you Malcolm?"

Dave turns back to the computer and begins typing. "Of course not."

"Dave, what's going on?"

"Look, I'll talk to you later, okay? I've got work to do."

Buffy sighs as she stands and leaves. "So do I." She whispers to herself.

Fritz watches her go as she passes him.

 

In the library, Buffy follows Giles down the stairs and to the counter. Trinity sits on a table nearby.

"I'm telling you, something is going on. It's not just Willow." Buffy explains. "Dave, Fritz, they're all wicked jumpy."

"Those boys aren't sparklingly normal as it is."

"Giles, trust me."

He looks at her. "I-I do! I-I-I really don't know how to advise you. Things involved with a computer fill me with a childlike terror. Now, if it were a nice ogre or some such I'd be more in my element. Well, I-I suppose you could, um, tail Dave, see if he's up to something."

"Follow Dave? What, in dark glasses and a trench coat? Please. I can work this out myself." She says. Trinity clears her throat. " _We_  can work this out ourselves."

 

Outside after school, Dave gets into his car and drives off. Buffy, wearing dark sunglasses and a coat, watches him go.

Trinity walks up from behind her and sees her outfit. "Seriously?" She says.

Buffy rolls her eyes. "Let's go."

 

Dave drives to the CRD building and parks at the loading dock in the back. Buffy stands outside the fence and watches as Dave talks to a technician before the two go inside. She doesn't see a security camera focus on her.

 

In the school computer lab Fritz zooms in on Buffy's image outside CRD. "She's too close. What do I do?"

**Kill Her.**

"Party." The boy smirks.

 

After a few minutes of waiting, Buffy finally sees Trinity walk up to her. "Where were you?"

"I was getting a closer look." She says.

"How'd you keep from getting caught?"

"I  _can_  turn into a cat y'know?"

 

Buffy and Trinity sit side by side on a table in the library. "Whatever Dave is into, it's large." Buffy explains to Giles and Xander.

"What was the name of this place?" Giles asks.

"It said CRD. But, I couldn't get close enough to see what it was."

"Calax Research and Development. It's a computer research lab. Third largest employer in Sunnydale till it closed down last year." Xander says. Buffy and Giles look at him in shock, while Trinity just swings her legs back and forth. "What, I can't have information sometimes?"

"Well, it-it's just somewhat unprecedented." Giles says.

"Well, my uncle used to work there. I-in a floor sweeping capacity."

"But it closed?" Buffy asks.

Xander nods. "Uh-huh."

"Looked pretty functional from where I stood. I don't have a clue what they were doing."

"They were getting new equipment for some big upgrade." Trinity says. "I'm not fluent in geek speak so I wasn't able make out much, but whatever they're doing, they're almost done."

"And what do they need Dave for?" Xander asks.

"Something about computers, right? I mean, he is off-the-chart smart." Buffy says.

"We still don't know an enormous amount. Whatever is going on there may be on the up-and-up." Giles says.

Xander shakes his head. "No, if CRD opened, it would've been on the news."

"Besides, I can just tell something's wrong. My spider sense is tingling." Buffy says.

Giles looks at her in confusion. "Your...spider sense?"

"Pop culture reference. Sorry."

Trinity looks at the man in a mixture of disbelief and offense. "Really? You have  _no_  idea what that is? Not even a little?"

"Yes, well, ahem, I think we're still at a standstill." Giles says, moving on. "Uh, uh, short of breaking into the place, I don't see-"

"Breaking in!" Buffy says hopping off the table. "Then this is the plan!"

"I'm free tonight!" Xander tells her, excited at the thought of the crime.

Buffy looks at Trinity, who sighs before sliding off the table. "Tonight it is!" The Slayer says with a nod as she makes her way over to Xander.

"A moment, please, of quiet reflection." Giles says, trying to calm down the teens. "I do not suggest that you illegally enter the-" Just then Ms. Calendar walks into the library. "Data." Giles says, not wanting the woman to catch on to their plans. "Into the file so the book will be listed by title as well as by author."

Ms. Calendar looks at Giles. "I just came by to check your new data base, make sure your cross reference table isn't glitching. 'Cause I'm guessing you haven't gone anywhere near it."

"Uh, I'm still sorting through the chaos you left behind you."

"Hmm." She looks at Buffy, Xander, and Trinity. "You're here again? Kids really dig the library, don't cha?"

"We're literary!" Buffy says excitedly.

Xander nods. "To read makes our speaking English good."

Trinity rolls her eyes. "We'll be going now." She says, putting her hands on her friends' backs and begins ushering them out of the room.

"Uh, w-we'll, uh, continue this conversation at another time." Giles calls.

"I think we're done." Trinity tells him as they leave. Once they're out of the library she turns to Xander. "Makes our speaking English good?"

"I panicked, okay?" He defends himself.

 

In the computer lab, Willow chats online with Malcom.

**I've never felt this way about anyone before, Willow.**

"I know what you mean. I feel like you know me better than anyone." She says the words as she types them.

**I do.**

"Do you think we should..." She continues typing. "Meet?"

**I think we should soon.**

"I'm nervous."

**I'm not. Isn't that strange?**

"That's what Buffy doesn't understand, how comfortable you can make me feel."

**Buffy just makes trouble. That's why she got kicked out of her old school.**

Willow stares at the screen in confusion before typing again. "How did you know that?"

  
**It's on her permanent record.**  Malcom sends Willow another message when she doesn't respond.  **You must have mentioned it.**  


Willow stares at the screen with an unsure look on her face before typing. "I guess."

**Let's not worry about her anymore.**

"I have to sign off. I'll talk to you later."

**Don't.**

"Bye." She types before turning off the computer and leaving.

 

"You're a snob!" Ms. Calendar tells Giles in exasperation.

Giles looks at her with and incredulous expression on his face. "I am no such thing."

"Oh, you are a  _big_ snob. You, you think that knowledge should be kept in these carefully guarded repositories where only a handful of white guys can get at it."

"Nonsense! I simply don't adhere to a, a knee-jerk assumption that because something is new, it's better."

"This isn't a fad, Rupert! We are creating a new society here." She argues.

"A society in which human interaction is all but obsolete? In which people can be completely manipulated by technology, well, well...thank you, I'll pass.

"Well." She clears her throat. "I think you'll be very happy here with your musty, old books." She says, opening Moloch's book.

"These musty old books have a great deal more to say than in any of your...fabulous web pages."

"Hmm." She flips through the pages. "This one doesn't have a whole lot more to say." She shows Giles the empty book. "What is it, like a diary?"

"How odd. I haven't looked through all the volumes yet, I didn't, um..." He closes the book and sees the etching of Moloch on the cover.

"What is it?"

Giles looks at the symbol in thought. "Uh, nothing, um, a, a diary, yes. I imagine that's what it is...well it's been so nice talking to you." He tells her before heading to his office.

Ms. Calendar watches after him. "We were fighting."

"Must do it again sometime, yes. Bye, now." He says absentmindedly before walking into his office.

 

Outside, the school nurse frantically walks alongside a man. "I checked the computer, and there's nothing in his file about being allergic to penicillin!" She explains, passing Buffy, who walks out of the building.

Dave walks up to the girl. "Buffy!"

She looks at the boy. "Dave! How're you doing?"

"Okay. Uh, look, I'm sorry about yesterday. I haven't been getting much sleep lately, y'know?"

"Don't sweat it."

He shuffles awkwardly before speaking again. "Willow was looking for you."

"Good, I need to talk to her. Do you know where she is?"

"She said she'd be in the, in the girls' locker room."

"Great." She looks at him for a moment. "Thanks." She begins to head towards the locker room.

Dave watches her go.

 

Buffy walks into the dim girl's locker room. "Will?" She calls, slowly walking down the aisle, passing a row of lockers. "Will?"

 

Fritz, also in the girl's locker room, turns on a shower and leaves.

 

Buffy hears the sound of running water. "Will? You taking a shower?" She walks over to the shower area, but sees no one there. "I guess not." She doesn't notice the electrical cord hanging from a light so far that it touches the floor and walks over to the shower to turn off the water. "This is how droughts get started." She turns the shower off, not seeing that the water on the floor quickly grows closer to the electrical wire.

"Buffy! Get out!" Dave yells.

She turns to him and notices the wires, which begin to spark. She strongly leaps from the floor and out of the shower area, an arc of electricity following her shoes. She lands on a changing bench and rolls onto the floor.

Dave runs out of the locker room.

Buffy sits up and looks towards the shower area. She looks at her shoes and groans as smoke rises from the soles. "Guess I won't be able to wear  _these_  anymore."

 

Dave rushes into the dark computer lab and turns on a monitor. "I can't do it! I'm not gonna do it."

**But you promised.**

"Buffy isn't a threat to you!" He desperately argues. "Stop with it."

**The project is almost complete. You won't have to do it again.**

Dave drops his bag. "Oh, I can't!" He whimpers.

**I've shown you a new world, Dave. Knowledge, power...I can give you everything. All I want is your love.**

Dave shakes his head. "No. This isn't right. None of it is."

A notepad window pops up on the monitor and words begin to appear. 'I'm sorry. I've been a terrible person. I'm a coward, and I can't go on living like this. Forgive me, Mom and Dad. At least now I'll have some peace. Remember me. Love, Dave.'

Dave backs away from the computer in horror. He doesn't see Fritz behind him, waiting by a window.

 

In the table, Buffy sits at a table while Xander paces back and forth.

"I'm gonna kill Dave!" He says.

"He tried to warn me." Buffy tells him, defending the boy.

"Warn you that he set you up?" Xander asks before turning to Giles. "Is she gonna be okay?"

"She was only grounded for a moment." The man explains the as he sits down, handing Buffy a mug of tea. "Still, if you'd been anyone but the Slayer..."

Trinity leans over towards Buffy and touches a hand to her neck. "Your pulse is strong." She says. "I haven't heard any changes in your breathing and I don't smell any burnt skin." She drops her hand and leans away. "You're fine."

Buffy looks at her. "Tell me the truth; how's my hair?"

"It's great! It's your best hair ever!" Xander smiles.

"Uh, oh, yes." Giles nods.

Trinity frowns at the men before turning back to Buffy. "I have a brush and some products in my locker. You'll be fine."

"I just...I don't understand what would make Dave do a thing like that." Buffy says.

"I think perhaps I do." Giles speaks up as he goes over to get Moloch's book from the cage. He walks back over to the teens and holds it up. "Does this look familiar to either of you?"

"Yeah, sure. Looks like a book." Buffy says.

Xander nods along. "I knew that one."

"Explain please." Trinity tells Giles.

The man sets the book down on the table. "In the dark ages the souls of demons were sometimes trapped in certain volumes. They remained locked within the book, harmless, unless the pages were read aloud. Unless I'm mistaken, this is Moloch, the Corrupter. A very deadly and seductive demon. He draws people to him with promises of love, power, knowledge. Preys on impressionable minds."

"Like Dave's."

"Dave, and who knows how many others."

"And Moloch is inside that book?" Buffy asks.

Giles shakes his head. "Not anymore." He opens the book, showing them the blank pages.

"You released Moloch?!" Xander says.

"Way to go!" Buffy cheers sarcastically.

"I didn't read it!" Giles tells them. "That dreadful Calendar woman found it and, and it was already blank."

"Okay, so a powerful demon with horns is walking around Sunnydale, and nobody's noticed?" Buffy asks.

"I-if he's so big and strong, why bother with Dave?" Xander asks. "I mean, why didn't he just attack Buffy himself?"

"Maybe he thinks she'll hesitate if she's dealing with humans?" Trinity guesses.

"I don't know. And I don't know who could've read that book. It wasn't even in English." Giles says.

"Where was it?" Buffy asks.

"Uh, in a pile with others that were, um, uh, scanned." He motions towards the computer.

"And that released the demon?" Xander asks.

Buffy shakes her head. "No, he's not out here."

Trinity nods, coming to the same conclusion as her friend. "He's in there." She points to the computer.

Realization shines in Giles eyes. "The scanner read the book. It brought Moloch out as information to be absorbed."

"He's gone binary on us." Buffy says.

"Okay, for those of us in our studio audience, who are me?" Xander says. "You guys are saying that Moloch is in this computer?"

Buffy nods. "And every computer connected to it by a modem."

"He's everywhere." Trinity adds on.

"What are we gonna do?" Xander asks.

"Willow scanned him into her file." Giles explains. "It may be...a futile gesture, but I suggest we, um, uh, delete it."

"Solid!" Buffy says before standing and walking over to the computer.

"Don't get too close." Xander warns her.

Buffy sits down in the computer chair. "Okay. Okay." She turns on the monitor. "So which file do you think it is? Willow?" She types in the necessary keys. "That's probably it, right? I'll just delete the whole thing." She drags the file icon to the trash bin. Suddenly Moloch's demonic face appears on the monitor, making Buffy gasps in fright.

" **Stay away from Willow! It is none of your business!"**  He shouts before disappearing and the monitor returns to normal.

Buffy stares at the blank screen. "So that's what Malcolm looks like. So much for delete file."

"This is very bad." Giles says.

Xander looks at him. "Are we overreacting? He's in a computer! What can he do?"

"You mean besides convince a perfectly nice kid to try and kill me? I don't know. How about mess up all the medical equipment in the world?" Buffy suggest.

"Randomize traffic signals." Giles adds in.

"Access launch codes for our nuclear missiles." Trinity says.

"Destroy the world's economy." Giles says.

Buffy looks at Giles. "I think Trinity much capped it with that nuclear missile thing."

Giles nods. "Right." He looks at Trinity. "Yours was best."

"Okay, he's a threat, I'm on board with that now." Xander says. "But what can we do about it?"

"I think the first thing we do is find Willow. She's probably talking to him right now. God, that creeps me out!" Buffy says, slightly distressed.

"What does he want with Willow?"

"Let's never find out." Buffy stands up. "Okay, I'm gonna check the computer lab, and you guys call her home."

 

Buffy walks into the dark computer lab and looks around. "Willow?" She calls. Suddenly, all the computers come on, startling her. She backs further into the room, her eyes still searching around. She turns around and jumps as she bumps into something. She takes a step back and sees that it's Dave, hanging from the ceiling with a note pinned to his shirt.

 

Back in the library, Xander hangs up the phone. "No answer."

"Damn it!" Trinity says.

"Well, it wasn't busy either, so she's not online." He tells her before seeing Buffy walk in. "She's not home."

"What did you find?" Giles asks, only for Buffy to stay silent with a saddened look on her face.

"Willow isn't-" Xander begins worriedly.

"Dave." Buffy interrupts. "He's dead."

"How?" Trinity asks.

"Well, it  _looks_  like suicide." Buffy says.

"With a little help from my friends?" Xander asks.

"I'd guess Fritz. Or the other zomboids from CRD." Buffy says before turning to Xander and Trinity. "We're gonna go to Willow's house." She turns to her Watcher. "Giles, you need to come up with a way to get Moloch out of the 'Net."

"I, I have records of the ceremonies, but, but that's for a creature of the flesh. Th-this could be something completely different." He explains.

"Then get Ms. Calendar. Maybe she can help you."

"Well, even if she could, how am I gonna convince her that there's a demon on the Internet?"

"Okay, fine, then you can stay here and come up with a better plan." She turns back to her friends. "C'mon."

 

Willow unlocks her front door and walks in. "Mom? Dad?" She calls, closing the door behind her. After receiving no answer, she walks up the stairs and into her bedroom. She drops her book bag on the bed and opens it.

_*You have mail.*_

Willow looks at her computer and sees the mail icon. She takes a seat at her desk and logs on, opening the new message.

**No more waiting. I need you to see me.**

She turns the monitor off and goes back to her bag. The monitor turns back on by itself.

_*You have mail.*_

Willow stares at the screen in disbelief before hearing the doorbell ring. She looks at her computer one last time before going to answer it. She walks down the stairs and to the front door. "Dad, did you forget your keys again?" She asks as she opens the door, only to see that no one is there. She turns around and begins to close the door behind her. Suddenly Fritz reaches around her head with a chloroform filled cloth. After a brief struggle Willow finally loses consciousness.

"No more waiting." Fritz says, looking at the girl in his arms.

 

In the library, Giles researches as he listens to the radio.

' _A spokesman for the archbishop denied the allegations, blaming computer error for the apparent financial discrepancy.'_  The radio host speaks.

"Binding rituals..." Giles mutters to himself.

' _In Washington D.C., the FBI today reported that all of its serial killer profiles have been mysteriously downloaded from its central computer.'_  


Ms. Calendar knocks on the door. "Hi. I got your message. What's so urgent?"

Giles looks at her before turning off the radio and standing up. "Um, thank you for coming. Uh, I need your help." He says before laughing nervously. "But before that, um, I need you to believe something that, um, you may not want to. Uh, there's, uh...something's got into the, um... i-i-inside, um..." He takes a deep breath and exhales. "There's a demon in the Internet."

"I know." She says nonchalantly.

Giles looks at her in shock.

 

Buffy, Xander, and Trinity arrive at Willow's house and see that the door is open. "Willow?!" Buffy calls. They rush inside and look around. "Willow?!"

"Check upstairs." Trinity says. "I'll see if I can pick up a scent."

Buffy nods and heads upstairs, Xander following after her. "Willow?!" She calls, walking into the girl's room, only to see that it is empty as well.

"Okay, any thoughts?" Xander asks.

Buffy looks around and sees the message on the computer. "'No more waiting, I need you to see me?'" She reads before turning to Xander. "See him how? Where?"

Trinity walks into the room. "I caught a scent out front. It's Fritz. He must've been hiding there for a while before he took her."

"What about CRD?" Xander asks.

Buffy looks at him. "The research place?"

"I'm guessing that's Moloch central."

"Guessing that's our best lead. Let's just hope Giles can back us up." Buffy says as they begin to leave.

 

Giles stares at the woman in front of him. "You already know? How exactly is that?"

"Come on, there've been portents for days. I mean, power surges, online shutdowns...you should see the bones I've been casting. I  _knew_ this would happen sooner or later. I mean, it's probably a, a mischief demon, y'know, like Kelkor, or-"

"It's Moloch."

"The Corrupter? Oh, boy." She lets out a breath. "I shoulda remembered, I just don't..."

"Uh...you don't seem exactly surprised by...who are you?"

"I teach computer science at the local high school."

"A profession that hardly lends itself to the casting of bones."

"Wrong and wrong, snobby." She says, exasperated. "You think the realm of the mystical is limited to ancient texts and relics? That bad old science made the magic go away? Mm. The divine exists in cyberspace same as out here."

"Are you a witch?"

She shakes her head. "Mm. I don't have that kinda power. 'Technopagan' is the term." She says, making Giles laugh. "There are more of us than you think."

"Well, uh, you can definitely help me." He says, picking up the book. "Um...what's in cyberspace at the moment is less than divine." He leads her out of the office and into the main area. "I have the binding rituals at hand, but I'm completely out of my idiom."

"Well, I can help! I think...I hope, I mean, well." She takes a seat at the computer. "This is my first real...do you know how he got in?"

"He was, uh, 'scanned' is the term, I believe."

"And you want him back in the book?"

The phone rings and Giles picks it up. "Buffy!"

 

Buffy stands at a payphone outside of CRD. "Yeah."

" _Willow?"_  


"Not at home. It looks like she was taken somewhere."

" _Where are you?"_  


"CRD. Whatever Moloch wants Willow for, it's probably in there."

" _Ms. Calendar and I are, uh, working to get Moloch offline."_  


"Here's a tip; hurry!" She says before hanging up.

 

In a dark lab in CRD, Willow lies on a table, unconscious. She blearily blinks as she wakes up. She sits up and looks around, seeing Fritz and a technician standing in front of a computer monitor.

**Welcome, my love. I can't tell you how good it is to see you with my own two eyes.**

Willow breathes hard in terror at the robotic form of Moloch in front of him. "Malcolm." She whispers. Fritz and the technician take hold of her arms and present her in front of Moloch.

Moloch slowly walks closer. "This world is so new, so exciting. I can see all of it. Everything flows through me. I know the secrets of your kings. But nothing compares to having form again. To be able to walk." He puts his hand on Fritz head. "To touch." He breaks the boy's neck. "To kill."

Willow watches Fritz's dead boy fall to the floor in horror and looks back up at Moloch.

 

Buffy and Trinity land on the ground after leaping over the fence. Xander yelps as he falls after climbing over the top. The girls help him up.

"Back way?" He suggests.

Buffy nods. "Back way." The three head for the back entrance, Xander limping as he does so.

Buffy kicks the door open and strides through the entrance.

 

"Here they come." Moloch says.

 

Ms. Calendar lights some candles. "The first thing we have to do is form the circle of Kahless. Right?"

"Form a circle? But there's only two of us. That's really more of a line." Giles says.

"You're not getting it, Rupert. We have to form the circle inside." She sits at the computer. "I'm putting out a flash. I just hope enough of my group responds."

"Won't Moloch just shut you down?"

"Well, I'm betting he won't figure out what we're doing until it's too late."

"Hoping and betting, that's what we've got." Giles says.

She looks at him. "You wanna throw in praying? Be my guest."

 

"I don't understand. What do you want from me?" Willow asks.

"I want to give you the world." Moloch tells her.

"Why?" She asks in suspicion.

"You created me. I brought these humans together to build me a body. But  _you_ gave me life. Took me out of the book that held me. I want to repay you."

"By lying to me? By pretending to be a person? Pretending you loved me?"

"I do!"

 

Buffy, Xander, and Trinity walk up to the guard. He gets up to stop them but Buffy punches, knocking the man out and continuing on. Xander and Trinity notice the guard's monitor.

"Uh, Buffy!" Xander calls.

"Look at this." Trinity says.

Buffy comes back and looks at the monitor. "It's her!"

"Yeah, who's the other guy?" Xander asks.

Trinity closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. When she opens them, her eyes shine a bright gold and her pupils are in slits. She looks down at her claws. "Let's go."

 

"Don't you see? I can give you everything! I can control the world! Right now a man in Beijing is transferring money to a Swiss bank account for a contract on his mother's life. Good for him!" Moloch says.

 

The trio walks through another pair of doors before seeing the doors the lab. Buffy tries to force it open to no avail. "I can't bust it. It's heavy steel."

"Then let's find another way in." Xander says and starts toward the next set of doors when an alarm goes off and red lights flash. He tries to open the door but it's locked. He walks back over to the girls. "What's goin' on?"

Trinity sees a security camera. "Building's security system is computerized."

"Whoops!"

The three look around in concern as gas begins to spray into the hall.

 

Ms. Calendar types away on the computer. "Almost there."

"Couldn't you just stop Moloch by, by entering some computer virus?" Giles asks.

"You've seen way too many movies. Okay! We're up. You read, I type. Ready?"

"Uh, I am. By the power of the divine, by the essence of the word, I command you..."

 

Buffy, Trinity, and Xander pound on the doors. Xander begins to cough.

 

"Let me leave?" Willow asks.

"But I love you!" Moloch declares.

"Don't say that! That's a joke! You don't love anything!"

"You are mine!"

"I'm not yours! I'm never gonna be yours! Never!"

Moloch lowers his head and considers for a moment before looking at Willow again. "Pity."

 

"By the power of the circle of Kahless, I command you..." Giles looks at Ms. Calendar's typing. "Kahless, with a 'K'."

 

Xander slides down the wall and to the floor as he begins to loose consciousness. Buffy continues to weakly hit the door. Trinity has resorted to scratching at the steel.

 

Moloch puts his hand on Willow's head. "I'll miss you." He says, making the girl scream.

 

"Demon, come!" Giles commands.

 

Moloch screams and lifts his arms in pain, letting go of Willow as he begins to writhe.

 

"I command you!"

 

Buffy comes in through the door with Xander and Trinity close behind. She leaps into a jumping side kick, making a dull thud when she connects with Moloch's chest, only making him stagger a bit before she falls to the floor. "Ow!" She says. "Guy's made of metal!"

The technician grabs Xander from behind and pulls him away. Trinity goes to help him. Buffy quickly gets up and looks at Willow while Moloch continues to writhe in pain.

"No! I won't go back!" The robotic demon screams.

Buffy grabs Willow's hand and they run out of the lab.

 

"Demon, COME!"

 

Moloch continues to scream.

 

In the library, the computer begins to spark. Ms. Calendar gets up and backs away to avoid them.

 

Trinity pulls the technician away from Xander, who turns around and punches the man in the face, knocking him out. He and Trinity follow after the other girls. "Hey! I got to hit someone!" He tells them.

 

Moloch falls to his knees.

 

Wind blows inside the library and the computer monitor flashes.

 

Moloch screams again.

 

Giles and Ms. Calendar watch the monitor flicker.

 

Moloch's screams finally die out.

 

The computer monitor stops flashing and smoke rises from it. "He's out of the 'Net. He's bound." Ms. Calendar says.

Giles goes over to the book and picks it up before opening it. "He's not in the book."

Ms. Calendar gets up and looks at the blank pages. "He's not in the book. Well, where is he?"

 

Moloch slowly raises his head.

 

Buffy and Willow open a set of doors only to see a guard and two technicians running towards them and quickly close the door.

"Let's go this way!" Xander says and begins to run the other way.

"Wait!" Trinity calls.

Suddenly Moloch crashes through the wall between them. He looks at Xander and backhands him across the face. Xander falls to the floor unconscious. Trinity hisses and jumps onto the robotic demon's back, attempting to dig her claws into him. Moloch struggles on his feet for a moment before reaching around and pulling Trinity from his back and throwing her into a wall. He turns around and advances on Buffy and Willow. He starts to swing at Buffy, and she tries to block the hit, but he doesn't budge and just pushes her aside and into the wall. She slides to the floor, dazed. "I was omnipotent. I was everything! Now I'm trapped in this shell!" He rants angrily as he reaches out to grab her by the head.

"Malcolm!" Willow calls, holding a fire extinguisher. The robotic demon turns to look at her. "Remember me, your girlfriend?!" She slams the extinguisher into his chest hard enough to make him stumble back. "Well, I think it's time we break up!" She hits him again even harder. "Or maybe we can still be friends!" She tries again for his face, but this time he grabs the extinguisher from her and throws it down. He grabs her and shoves her down the hall into Xander, who's just getting up, sending them both crashing to the floor. Trinity, finally getting up, moves in front of her friends, ready to protect them from Moloch. Buffy shakes away her daze and stands up to face Moloch.

He turns his attention on her. "This body's all I have left. But it's enough to crush you!"

Buffy looks around for a way to handle him and notices a power junction box on the wall. She faces him again and eases her way in front of the box. "Take your best shot." She goads him.

Moloch rears back for a punch and swings. Buffy ducks away, and he punches right into the electrical box. It shorts out, and Moloch is enveloped by high voltage electricity. Buffy runs over to Willow, Xander, and Trinity and crouches down to protect them. Moloch's circuitry overloads and his body explodes. His head lands right in front of them.

 

The next day at school, Ms. Calendar is bent over at her desk as she types on her computer. Giles walks in and clears his throat before knocking on the door. She turns around and straightens up once she sees him. "Well." She smiles. "Look who's here! Welcome to my world. You scared?" She teases.

"I'm remaining calm, thank you. Uh, I just wanted to, uh, return this." He holds up an earring. "I found it among the new books, and naturally I thought of you."

"Cool. Thanks." She takes it from him.

"Uh, well, I'll, I'll see you anon." He begins to leave but she speaks again.

"Can't get outta here fast enough, can you?"

Giles turns around. "Truthfully, I'm even less anxious to be around computers than I used to be."

"Well, it was your book that started all the trouble, not a computer." She says, leaving Giles stumped. "Honestly, what is it about them that bothers you so much?"

"The smell."

"Computer's don't smell, Rupert."

"I know! Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower or a, a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences...long forgotten. Books smell. Musty and, and, and, and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer, is, uh, it...it has no, no texture, no, no context. It's, it's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then, then the getting of knowledge should be, uh, tangible, it should be, um...smelly."

"Well! You really are an old-fashioned boy, aren't you?"

"Well, I-I don't dangle a corkscrew from my ear."

"That's not where I dangle it." She says, mischievously, smiling as she walks past him. Giles follows her with his gaze, looking puzzled as well as intrigued.

 

Outside at the fountain, Buffy, Trinity, and Xander try to cheer up Willow.

"We gonna go to the Bronze tonight? We four?" Trinity asks.

"It'll be fun!" Buffy says.

Xander nods with a smile on his face. "Yeah, Willow, fun? Remember fun? That thing where you smile?"

"Oh, I'm sorry guys. I'm just thinking about..." Willow trails off.

"Malcolm?" Buffy asks.

"Malcolm, Moloch...whatever he's called. The one boy that's really liked me, and he's a demon robot. What does that say about me?" The red head asks.

"It doesn't say anything about you."

"I mean, I thought I was really falling-"

"Hey, did you forget? The one boy I've had the hots for since I've moved here turned out to be a vampire."

"Right, and the teacher I had a crush on? Giant praying mantis?" Xander says with a goofy smiles.

Willow smiles as well. "That's true."

"Yeah, that's life on the Hellmouth." He says.

Buffy nods. "Let's face it; none of us are ever gonna have a happy, normal relationship."

"We're doomed!"

"Yeah!" Willow says and they all laugh before it quickly becomes nervous and dies as realization settles in.

Trinity looks at her friends. "It's times like this that I appreciate being the only lesbian in school." She says.


	9. The Puppet Show

Backstage in the Sunnydale High School auditorium, a student; Emily busies herself with ballet stretches.

A demon observes the girl from a low point in the floor. "I will be whole." He exhales. "I will be new."

 

Students practice their acts backstage. Lisa plays her tube and Marc rehearses his magic act. Morgan rubs his temples and looks around before turning back to his dummy, Sid.

Giles gives a small sigh in exasperation as he listens to Cordelia sing 'The Greatest Love of All' off key.

"Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all." The girl sings. "I decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow. If I fail, if I succeed, at least-"

Trinity cringes and subtlety tries to cover her ears. Giles sees the movement and interrupts Cordelia. "Thank you, Cordelia. Tha-that's going to be lovely."

"But I didn't do the part with the sparklers!" She pouts.

"Um, w-we'll, um..." He fumbles for an excuse. "Save that for the dress rehearsal. "Uh, Lisa! Please!"

"Urgh." Cordelia groans and places the mic on the stand before walking off stage. Lisa walks onto the stage and begins her solo.

Buffy, Willow, and Xander walk down the center aisle look at the librarian and the neko. Buffy gasps. "If it isn't the great producer!" She teases as they sit near the duo.

"Had to see this to believe it." Xander says.

Giles sighs. "Oh. You three."

"The school talent show. How ever did you finagle such a primo assignment?" Buffy asks.

"Our new Führer, Mr. Snyder." Giles tells her, distaste in his voice.

"I think they call 'em 'principals' now." Willow says.

"Mm. He thought it would behoove me to have more contact with the students. I did try to explain that my vocational choice of librarian was a deliberate attempt to...minimize said contact, but, uh, he would have none of it."

"Giles, unto every generation is born one who must run the annual talentless show. You cannot escape your destiny." Buffy mocks him.

"If you had any shred of decency, you would have participated, or at least, um, helped like Trinity." He motions to the girl.

Buffy shakes her head. "Nah! I think I'll take on your traditional role...and watch!"

"And mock!" Xander adds.

"And laugh!" Willow smiles. The teens, Trinity as well, laughs.

"Okay. I think maybe we better leave our Mr. Giles to this business he calls a show." Buffy says as she, Xander, and Willow leave their seats and start back up the aisle only to find a short balding man waiting for them. "Principal Snyder!" Buffy's eyes widen.

The man looks at the three in disdain. "So...we think school events are stupid, and we think authority figures are to be made fun of."

"No! No, we don't. W-unless you do."

"And we think our afternoon classes are optional. All three of you including Ms. Clairborn left campus yesterday."

"Yeah, but we were fighting a demon-" Buffy starts.

"Fighting?"

"Not fighting."

"No, we, uh, left to  _avoid_  fighting." Xander says.

"Real anti-social types. You need to integrate into this school, people." He crosses his arms. "I think I just found three eager new participants for the talent show."

Buffy's face pales. "What?"

"No!" Xander says.

"Please?" Willow pouts.

"I've been watching you. Always getting into one scrape or another."

"Well, we're  _really_ , really sorry, but about the talent show, please, you can't make us-" Buffy pleads.

"My predecessor, Mr. Flutie, may have gone in for all that touchy-feely relating nonsense, but he was eaten. You're in  _my_  world now. And Sunnydale has touched and felt for the last time." He starts pasts them.

"Can I just mention that detention is a time-honored form of punishment?" Xander says and Buffy vigorously nods her head in agreement.

"I know the three of you will come up with a wonderful act for the school to watch. And mock. And laugh at." He throws their previous words back at them, continuing on his way before stopping near Giles and Trinity. "Ms. Clairborn."

Trinity looks at him. "Yes Mr. Snyder?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Uh...I'm helping Mr. Giles with the talent show auditions?" She says, not sure why the man is questioning her.

"And how exactly are you helping him?"

"I'm offering my opinion of the acts we've seen so far."

"Ah." He nods. "You're judging them."

"No-" Trinity shakes her head but Mr. Snyder interrupts her.

"I'm sure your time will be better spent  _actually_  participating in the talent show."

"Sir?"

"Mr. Giles, please add Ms. Clairborn to the list of accepted acts. I'm sure this time will be better spent instead of  _skipping classes_." He aims his last words at Trinity before continuing away.

Trinity stares after the man in disbelief. "What just happened?"

Xander points up with both of his index fingers and sits down in a seat. "No!"

Buffy moans with a horrified look on her face and takes a seat next to her watcher. She looks at Giles for sympathy but finds none. Willow continues standing with a frown on her face.

Giles hides a smirk and looks up as the tuba solo ends. "Thank you!" He tells Lisa and waits for the next audition.

Buffy cringes when she sees a ventriloquist doll in the hand of a student. "Ewww, dummy!"

Xander sees a mime and jumps in his seat. "Dyow! Mime!"

Willow sits behind Buffy. "I think dummies are cute. You don't?" She asks.

"Uuuhhh. They give me the wig. Ever since I was little."

"What happened?"

Buffy shrugs. "I saw a dummy. It gave me the wig. There really wasn't a story there."

"Hi. I'm Morgan." The boy moves the dummy's head. "And I'm Sid!"

Trinity winces.  _Oh my god, he's so horrible._ She thinks as she watches the boy's lips move. Buffy raises her eyebrows and stares in disbelief.

Morgan moves Sid's mouth. "Hey Morgan, would you like to tell some jokes?"

"Would I?!" He says.

"As a matter of fact, it is! It's also a wood nose, and a wood mouth!" The joke falls flat with the crowd.

"I didn't sleep at all last night." Morgan (as Sid) says.

"Alright, time out. Let's stop this before someone gets hurt." Sid says in a deep voice before turning to Morgan. "Kid, you are the worst. Even I can see your lips move."

Trinity and Buffy giggle. Giles looks up again and puts his glasses back on; intrigued that he may have a good act.

Morgan sighs. "C'mon, Sid. You're spoiling my act. I worked on these jokes for weeks."

"You call those jokes? My jockey shorts are made out of better material." Sid replies. A few students laugh as the gather at the edge of the stage to watch the act. "And they're edible!" He says, gaining more laughs.

Giles turns to the now smiling scoobies. "There, you see? I'm sure you three can come up with something...equally exciting."

 

In the girl's locker room, Emily changes back into her school clothes. She puts her ballet outfit and shoes into her locker and closes it. She turns around when she hears a noise. "Is anybody there?" She walks to the end of the row of lockers and peeks around the corner. "Hello?" She walks around to the next row of lockers but doesn't see anyone. She doesn't notice eyes watching her. "Hello?" She continues down the row toward the showers and doesn't notice the movement behind her. She turns around and screams.

"I will be flesh!" The demon says with a deep gravelly voice.

 

A boy, Marc auditions for the talent show. "I reach into the hat, and out...comes..." He lifts the hat and looks around frantically. "Has anybody seen a rabbit?" He asks as he begins to search the floor.

 

Xander, Willow, and Buffy practice a dramatic scene.

Xander poses with his right arm in the air. He goes to say his line but hesitates. "I can't do this!"

"Xander, come on." Buffy says.

"I, I can't! I have my pride! Okay, I don't have a lot of my pride, but I have enough so that I can't do this!" He goes over to the steps at the side of the stage and sits down.

Willow follows him. "A dramatic scene is the easiest way to get through the talent show, because it doesn't require an actual talent." She sits on the step above him.

"But we  _have_  talent. We can do stuff. Buffy, uh..."

Buffy sits down as well. "What am I gonna do? Slay vampires on stage?"

"Maybe in a funny way!" Willow suggests.

Xander looks at her. "Willow, you can do stuff. Uh, the piano..."

"You play?" Buffy asks.

"A little." The redhead tells her.

"Well, that's cool. You can accompany us and we can  _attempt_  to sing."

"Oh, i-in front of other people? Then, no, I don't play..."

"Whatever happened to corporal punishment?" Xander asks before looking at Trinity, who has been sitting down reading a book the whole time. "How can you be so calm about this? You have to perform too, and you won't even perform with us?!"

"I was mad that Snyder was making me be in the show. If I wanted to be a part of the talent show, I would've audition. But since I didn't, I'm going to make him regret trying to humiliate me." She answers.

"What are you gonna do?" Buffy asks.

"I don't know." The neko says nonchalantly, not noticing the stares from her friends.

Sid whistles at the girls, causing the scoobies to look at him. "Mm, mm, mm. Look at the goodies!" Morgan's face reddens in embarrassment.

Willow gets up and walks over to him. "Morgan, you're really getting good! Where did you come up with that voice?"

"It's kind of an imitation of my dad." He says.

"Sounds real!" Buffy says.

Sid looks at her. "It is real. I'm the one with the talent here. The kid's dead weight." He says before turning to Willow. "How about you and I do a little rehearsin' on our own, honey?"

"Uh, hey!" Xander says, but is ignored.

"You know what they say: once you go wood, nothin's as good!"

Buffy frowns. "Okay, Morgan. We get the joke. Horny dummy, ha, ha, it's very funny, but you might wanna consider getting some new schtick. Unless you want your prop ending up as a Duraflame log."

Morgan and Sid exchange a look.

 

Principle Snyder and Giles walk through the doors of the auditorium. "Kids today need discipline. That's an unpopular word these days,  _discipline_." The short man rants. "I know Principal Flutie would have said, 'Kids need understanding. Kids are human beings.' That's the kind of woolly-headed, liberal thinking that leads to being eaten."

"I, I think perhaps it was a little more complex than, um-" Giles starts but Snyder continues on.

"This place has quite a reputation. Suicide, missing persons, spontaneous cheerleader combustion...you can't put up with that. You've gotta keep an eye on the bad element." They reach the stage and stop. "Like those four." He nods towards Buffy, Willow, and Xander who practice their scene. Trinity remains sitting on the floor, her face buried in a book. "Kids. I don't like them. From now on you're gonna see a very different Sunnydale High. Tight ship, clean, orderly," he turns to face Giles. "and quiet."

 

In the locker room a girl screams when she discovers Emily's body.

 

Giles moves pass police and paramedics who prepare the body for transport. He exits the locker room and into the hallway, ducking under the yellow tape and making his way towards the scoobies. "It was Emily."

"Emily.  _Dancer_  Emily?" Willow asks.

"Oh, man! I hate this school." Xander groans.

"Uh, it must have happened just after, uh, dress rehearsals. There was a cross-country meet at Melville. She, she, she never showed up for it." He explains.

"Vampire?" Buffy asks.

"Um, I think not." He looks down.

Trinity looks at him. "Giles, what happened?"

He lets out a breath. "Her heart was removed."

Willow eyes widen. "Yikes!"

"Does that mean anything to you? Besides...ooooooo?" Buffy shudders.

"Uh..." Giles sighs. "There are various demons which, which feed off human hearts, but..." He looks away and the teens follow his gaze, seeing a knife being put into an evidence bag.

"But demons have claws." Buffy says.

"And teeth." Trinity adds.

"They got no use for a big old knife." Xander finishes.

"Which more than likely makes our murderer..." Giles trails off, not wanting to admit what they all fear but Buffy does it for him.

"Human."

"Did I mention that I  _hate_  this school?" Xander says once again.

Willow pales. "So Emily was killed by a regular human person."

"The evidence certainly points that way." Giles says.

Buffy shakes her head. "No, wait. I-I'm not buying, you guys. Remember the Hellmouth? Mystical activity is totally rife here. This to me says demon."

"I'd like to think you're right. A demon is a creature of evil, pure and very simple. A person driven to kill is, is, um, it's more complex." Giles explains.

"Not really. At least 35% of deaths are demon related, but humans kill each other just fine." Trinity says, earning uncomfortable looks from the group.

After a moment, Willow breaks the silence. "The creep factor is also heightened. It could be anyone. It could be me!" She rants before noticing that her friend's eyes are now on her. "It's not, though."

Giles straightens his glasses. "Uh, demon or no, we have some investigating to do. I suggest we start with your...your talent show compatriots. One of them may have been the last to see her alive."

 

Buffy questions Lisa in the band room.

"I didn't know her too well. There's that whole dancer/band rivalry, y'know?" Lisa says.

Buffy slowly nods. "I've heard about that."

"But I did speak to her a little the day that...yesterday."

"How did she seem?"

 

Outside, Mark shuffles a deck of cards. "She was happy. I guess. She was psyched to be doing the show. She was a really good dancer. Here, pick a card."

"Uh, um..." Giles reaches for one but Marc pulls them back.

"No, wai-wai-wai-wait. Not that one. Pick this one." He points out.

Giles takes the card. "Do you remember the last time you saw her?"

"She was talkin' to someone."

"Who?"

 

Willow and Elliot walk into a classroom. "That smart guy. The one with the dummy. What's his name?" He asks.

"Morgan?" Willow fills in.

"Yeah, that's it. He was actin' kinda strange."

"Strange how?"

 

Xander question Cordelia at her cheerleading practice. "All I can think is, it coulda been me!" She tells him.

"We can dream." Xander says, not wanting to bare another minute in her presence.

 

Meanwhile, Trinity wonders around the school, searching for someone. "Hey!" She calls out; finally spotting the boy she was looking for.

Oz, a boy a year ahead of her turns to look at her. "Yeah?"

"You're Oz. I'm Trinity, I've seen you play guitar a few times with that band..." She trails off snapping her fingers, trying to recall the name.

"Dingoes Ate My Baby."

"Yes!" She says. "I need a favor." Oz nods for her to continue. "I need you and your band to play for my performance in the talent show."

"The talent show isn't really the Dingoes scene. Devon wouldn't go for it."

Trinity folds her arms and raises an eyebrow. "Devon wouldn't go a paying job?"

"You want to pay us?"

"Three hundred dollars. I'm not offering anymore. It's a just a talent show and I only need you to perform one song, not an entire set. Will you do it?"

Oz nods. "Devon would do it if there's money involved."

Trinity smiles. "I'll give you the sheet music and lyrics."

"We already know a lot of stuff from memory. What do you want to sing?"

"You won't know this song considering I wrote it. I can have it for you in a few hours." Trinity holds out her hand.

"I'll run it by the guys." Oz takes her hand and shakes it, confirming the deal. "See you later."

"You too." She says, before going off to question a student from the talent show.

 

Buffy walks into the auditorium, looking around the room before walking over to the stage. She sees Sid sitting on a stool, facing the curtain.

"Right now you and me gotta be on the lookout. Figure out who's gonna be next." He says.

Morgan walks out onto the stage, frustrated. "How are we supposed to..." He notices Buffy. "Oh, hi."

"Hello." She walks closer to the stage.

"I was just working on throwing my voice."

"Uh, Morgan, did you notice anything weird going on around here yesterday?"

Morgan walks over and gathers Sid up. "Weird? What d'you mean?" He walks down the stage steps.

"With Emily. Did she say anything to you, was she arguing with anyone?"

The boy walks over to a case. "No. She was dancing." He opens it. "Sid and I were talking."

"Talking." Buffy repeats, noticing that he refers to that doll as if it can actually speak.

Morgan realizes his mistake. "Rehearsing."

"So, you didn't notice anything weird at-"

Morgan holds his hand to his forehead in pain and sits down. "Ohhh!" He groans.

Buffy steps forward, concerned. "Morgan, are you okay?"

Sid looks at her. "Look, sweetheart! He answered your question. Now leave him alone!" He orders. Once the pain seems to go away, Morgan looks at Buffy.

"Okay, Morgan, how 'bout talking to me yourself now?" She says, her earlier concern now turning into irritation.

"He said all he's gonna say." Sid says.

Morgan looks nervously between the two and stands up. "It's okay, Sid. We're done." He puts Sid in his case.

Buffy exhales. "I'm sorry. Look, I didn't mean to make you mad."

He looks at her with wide eyes. "No! I'm..." He leans forward and whispers. "It's him!" He gestures towards Sid. "He's..." He shakes his head and closes the case, giving up on whatever he was going to admit. "We have to go." He grabs the case and leaves.

Buffy, taken aback, watches after him. "Cute couple."

 

Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Trinity walk into the library.

"Okay, next time we split up someone else is on Cordy detail." Xander says. "Five more minutes with her and we woulda had another organ donor."

"I think I had a bit more luck. Everyone I talked to seemed to point their fingers at the same person." Willow tells them.

"Morgan?" Trinity asks, having received the name from a few students.

Buffy nods. "Morgan."

"We have a winner!" Xander sarcastically announces.

"I fear I was led to the same conclusion." Giles says once they reach his office.

"Well, what do we do? We don't slay him, right? We wanna bring him to justice."

"We could set up a complex sting operation where we get him to confess!" Willow suggests.

"Uh, I should wear a wire!"

"Whoa, hey, you guys, all we know is that Morgan is a grade A large weirdo. That doesn't lead directly to murderer." Buffy defends him.

"Guy talks to his puppet!" Xander points out.

Willow nods in agreement. "And  _for_  his puppet."

"I've never heard someone throw their voice before, but it kinda sounds like it wasn't coming from him, even with  _my_ ears." Trinity says, only to be ignored as her friends throw out more reasons for Morgan to be the killer.

"Well, yeah, but what about the whole 'it's a demon' theory?" Buffy looks to Giles.

"I'm looking into that, but, uh, my investigation is somewhat...hampered by our life in the theater."

"Uh, priority check, Giles?" She weighs the two with her hands. "Talent show, murder."

Xander brightens. "Yeah, we can't do the talent show, it's unthinkable. I'm not able to think it!"

Giles looks at the teens. "Principal Snyder is watching us all very closely. Now, if he chooses, he can make all our lives extremely difficult. A Slayer cannot afford that! We will find this murderer, but in the meantime...the show must go on."

Buffy groans. "This is so unfair."

"Buffy, you, uh, watch Morgan. Check his locker, see if there's anything there."

"Like a heart?" Trinity says sarcastically.

"Or something."

Buffy nods. "Alright.

"I'll pull up his locker number." Willow walks over to the computer.

"Can I still wear a wire?" Xander asks.

 

Trinity hands the sheet music to Oz and Devon. "It's pretty simple, so you should be able to learn it pretty quickly."

Oz looks over the music and Devon looks at Trinity and puffs himself up a bit. "I just want to let you know that we don't do any of the girl bubblegum pop stuff. A few hundred bucks isn't worth my rep and dignity."

"Do you want to get paid or not?" She says, not affected by his attempt at masculinity.

At the sight of the 'no nonsense' look on the girls face, Devon shuffles his feet and looks at Oz. "What do you think?"

"Simple chords and easy beat; we'll have it down by tonight." He looks up from the music. "You wrote this?"

Trinity nods. "I got bored during fifth period last week."

"Nice lyrics."

"Thanks."

Devon looks at the music. "I have to sing backup?"

"What? Did you think I was just gonna sway in the back with a tambourine?" Trinity asks.

"Well-"

Oz cuts him off. "We'll be ready in time for the show. When do you want to rehearse?"

"I have some things to do first but I'll meet up with you guys tomorrow. Cool?"

"Cool."

 

After school, Buffy quietly enters the doors from the stairwell, casing the area for any witnesses. She walks past a door but doesn't notice it slowly opening. She hears a sound and twists around to look for the cause. She doesn't realize that the door is now ajar. She continues looking for Morgan's locker and finally finds it.

The blond begins to work the combination. "Okay...two to the left, three to the right..." She looks in both directions before slamming her palm into the lock, creating a clean hole. She reaches in with her fingers and undoes the latch. She looks around in the locker, and reaches in to take Sid's case out when Principal Snyder grabs her hand from behind, startling her. "Principal Snyder!"

The balding man looks at her in suspicion. "What are you doing?"

"Uh, looking for something."

"School hours are over. You, therefore, should be gone."

"And I'm going any minute now." She laughs nervously.

"There are things I will not tolerate; students loitering on campus after school, horrible murders with hearts being removed. And also smoking."

"Well, I don't do any of those things. Not...ever."

"There's something going on with you. I'll figure it out sooner or later." He continues to stare at Buffy's smiling face. "Do you need something here?"

"Oh!" She looks into the locker. "Yeah! Right! Um, a friend wanted me to get something...out of his case!" She pulls the case partially out of the locker and opens it only to be surprised to find it empty. She quickly closes it and looks at Snyder. "He must've taken it and just forgotten to tell me."

"Mmhmm."

The two don't notice Morgan and Sid watching from behind the door.

"Get along home now. It's late." Snyder orders her before turning and walking down the hall. Buffy watches him go.

 

Morgan paces back and forth on the stage. "No, I can't do it!"

Sid watches the boy from his seat. "It's the only way."

"I don't want-"

"She's the one."

"But-"

"You saw what she did, how strong she is."

"I know, but-"

"She's the last! Just this one more and I'll be free."

"I won't."

"I will!"

 

Joyce knocks on the door to her daughter's room before coming in. "Hi, hon. How's it, uh, going with the talent show?"

"It'll be over soon." Buffy says with an unhappy look on her face.

Joyce chuckles. "It can't be that bad! I, for one, am looking forward to seeing your act."

She looks at her mother with wide eyes. "Seeing? I-in the sense of actually attending?"

"Of course!"

"Uh-uh! No, Mom, y-y-you can't! And, I mean, if I know you're out there watching, I'll freeze up, stage fright."

"But I wanna support what you're doing!"

"Look, Mom, if you really love me, and wanna show your support, you'll stay away. Far away."

"Honey, is there, uh...is there something bothering you? I-I mean, besides your fabulous debut."

"Nothing. There's just a lot going on right now."

"Well. Get some sleep. You'll feel better in the morning."

"Good plan." She watches her mother leave the room before getting into bed and turning her lamp off.

Sid watches from her window.

 

Buffy shifts and opens her eyes as she is woken by the sound of quick, light footsteps. She sits up and sees the movement rush under her bed. She leans over the edge to look underneath but finds nothing. She straightens back up only to see Sid, making her scream in fear. As she jumps out of bed her mother rushes into the room and turns on the light.

"Honey, what is it?" Joyce asks.

The blond teen walks over to her, a frightened look on her face. "In the bed, in the covers there's something!"

"Where?" They both walk over to the bed to investigate.

Joyce grabs the covers and goes through them. "Well, well, there, there's nothing there now. Are, are you sure you didn't have a nightmare?"

"No! There's some-...there is..." Buffy sighs and puts her hands on her head, no longer sure of herself. "Yeah...you're probably right." She exhales and drops her hands. "I'm sorry I got you up."

"Don't worry about it. I was dreaming about bills." Joyce tells her and kisses her daughter's forehead before pointing to the other side of the room. "Sweetheart, you shouldn't go to sleep with the window open." She touches Buffy's cheek and leaves the room.

Buffy continues to stare at the window in confusion. "I didn't."

 

_The Next Day_

"And my lovely assistant steps into the box." The girl steps into the box and Marc closes the door and turns it around. "And...behold!" He opens the box, but his assistant is still there. "You were supposed to leave!" He tells her, exasperated.

Xander and Willow laugh from their seats. He turns to look at Trinity, who scribbles in her notebook. "Whatever we do can't be as bad as that."

The neko glances up. "It depends on if students start ranking who's act was the worst instead of the best."

Marc closes the door to the box and butts his head against it. Giles comes out from backstage with Cordelia following behind him.

"I don't understand why I...why I have to follow Brett and his stupid band." The cheerleader complains.

"Because we have to clear their equipment before the finale. I told you." Giles explains, trying to keep the annoyance off his face.

"But the mood! It'll be all wrong!" She steps in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. "My song is about  _dignity_  and human feelings and personal...hygiene or something. Anyway, it's sappy, and no one is gonna be feeling sappy after all that Rock and Roll." She notices the look on his face. "Uhhh, what?"

"Oh!" Giles snaps out of his thoughts. "I'm sorry. Um, your hair, uh..."

"There's something wrong with my hair?" She nervously pulls it behind her ears. The librarian remains silent but continues to stare. "Oh my god!" She says and quickly leaves.

"Xander was right. It worked like a charm." Giles mutters to himself. He sees Buffy and makes his way over to her. "Hello. You look a bit worse for, uh..." He trails off as the slayer passes him and goes to sit next to her friends and follows after her. "What exactly are you the worse for?"

"Where's Morgan?" Buffy asks as she sits down.

"Uh, I-I...haven't seen him."

Xander looks at her in concern. "Did he do something to you?"

"No, it was his...Sid; the dummy." She says, gaining her watcher's full attention. "Okay, everyone look at me like I'm in a bunny suit, 'cause that's how stupid I feel saying this...I think Sid was in my room last night."

"With Morgan?" Willow asks.

She shakes her head. "No. He was alone. And  _alive_."

"Did you see him?" Trinity asks.

"Well, I saw something. I-it ran across my floor, under my bed and then it attacked me."

"Attacked you? How?" Giles asks.

"It was like it pounced on my face."

"Like a cat." Xander says and look at Trinity. "No offense." She waves it off.

"Yeah, exactly! But when I turned the lights on it was already gone. I-I think it went out my window."

"Like a cat."

"Yeah! No!" Buffy says, getting where Xander is headed. "It was Sid, the dummy."

"Or possibly the nightmare of somebody who had...dummies on her mind." Giles rationalizes.

"You did say they creep you out." Willow backs him up.

Buffy looks at her friends in disbelief. "Excuse me? Can I have a  _little_  support here, please? I'm not just some crazy person, I'm the Slayer."

"The dummy Slayer?" Xander says, earning an unamused look from the blond. His face falls. "There's nothing funny about that."

"Well, on the side of the 'Morgan's just crazy' theory there is..." Trinity says as she spots the boy carrying Sid. "Well...Morgan."

Buffy watches the boy open Sid's case and sit down with Sid on his lap. "I'd like to see Morgan without his better half for a few minutes. Bet he could tell me something."

"Oh, uh, i-if it's any consolation, I...I may have found a possible demon culprit." Giles speaks up, holding up a book. "Th-there's a reference in here to a brotherhood of seven demons who take, uh, the form of young humans. Every seven years these demons need human organs, a-a-a brain and a heart, to maintain their humanity. Otherwise they, they, they revert back to their original form, which is, uh, uh, slightly less appealing." He hands Xander the book open to a sketch of one of the demons.

"So Morgan could still be the guy, only 'demon Morgan' instead of 'crazy Morgan'." Willow clarifies, glancing to see the boy messing the puppet's shoes.

"It's said that these demons are, are, are preternaturally strong, and, and, and...Morgan is, is...well, he seems to be getting weaker every day."

Buffy observes Morgan as he puts a hand on his head.

 

In history class, Mrs. Jackson walks round the room as she gives her lecture. "It was as a result of this that President Monroe put forth the eponymous, meaning named after one's self, Monroe Doctrine, which in one sense established the U.S. as a local peacekeeper." She walks behind Buffy, who intently keeps her eyes on Sid. The puppet turns his head to look at her and lowers his brows. A chill runs through Buffy and she lowers her eyes to her desk.

Cordelia notices and leans over towards her. "Looks like someone digs you. That's adorable. You and the dummy could tour in the freak show!" She smiles smugly as she leans back into her chair. Buffy ignores her and glances at Sid once more before looking down again.

"Okay, who can tell me how Spain responded to this policy?" Mrs. Jackson asks the class. She notices Morgan's puppet whispering to him. "Morgan? Morgan?"

The boy looks at Sid and then at her. "What?"

"Morgan has other things on his mind." Sid says, making the students laugh. Trinity looks up from her notebook and frowns.

Mrs. Jackson walks up to Morgan. "Give me your puppet."

"I'll put him away." He says, but she takes Sid away from him.

"You'll get it back after school." She places Sid in a cupboard and closes it before returning her attention back to the class. "Okay, then. In the first part of the nineteenth century-"

"I'm still watchin' you." Sid says from inside the cupboard. Trinity stares at the cupboard.

"Morgan, that is enough!" Mrs. Jackson scolds him.

Xander, Buffy, and Trinity look at Morgan. He looks at Buffy and looks back to the teacher.

 

_After School_

Morgan walks into his history class room. "Mrs. Jackson."

The teacher looks at him. "Morgan."

"You said you'd give me..."

"Oh, of course." She gets up and goes over to the cupboard. Morgan follows behind her expectantly. Before she opens the cupboard she stops and faces Morgan. "Y'know, I wanted to ask you, is everything okay? At home, here at school?"

He nods. "Yeah, it's great."

"I feel like you've become...a little detached."

"Mm!" He rubs his head in pain.

"You're one of the brightest kids I've seen in a long time, but lately it seems like you're not all there." She continues speaking. Morgan places his other hand on his head. "Try not to let other things get in the way."

Morgan lets his hands drop. "Okay! Can I get Sid now?"

"Sure."

She opens the cupboard only to find it empty. She turns back to Morgan. "It's gone!"

"Gone? Whadaya mean, gone? Where could he have gone?"

"I put it right here."

"He knew to wait for me. He knew I'd be back."

"What do you mean 'he'?"

"What did you do with him? Where is he?"

 

In the library, Xander plays with Sid. Buffy, Willow, Trinity, and Giles walk in. Willow and the Librarian have their arms full of costumes.

Buffy notices Sid in Xander's hands. "Where did you get that?"

"Oh, I, uh, took it out of Mrs. Jackson's cupboard. I thought you said you wanted to be able to speak to Morgan alone, and uh...well, Morgan's alone, and, uh...Sid's with me." He says. Buffy stares at Sid uncomfortably. "Hi girls! Would you like to hear some off-color jokes?" He manipulates the puppet.

"I really don't think you should be doing that." Buffy says.

"What? C'mon..." He holds up Sid. "I'm not real!"

"Xander, quit it!" She turns and walks a few steps away. She stops and looks back when she hears Xander banging Sid's head into the table.

"He's. Not. Real!" He picks Sid back up. "I think our demonstration proves that, uh, Sid," He knocks on Sid's head several times. "is wood. Now, why don't you go and find Morgan and prove he's...whatever he is?"

"I imagine he's looking for his puppet." Giles says.

"I'll go find Morgan." She starts to leave but stops and gives Xander a look. "You watch the dummy."

He manipulates the doll again. "Bye-bye, now. I'm completely inanimate." He says, earning another look from the slayer befor she leaves. "Redrum! Redruuum!"

"What do we do with him?" Willow asks.

"Eh, I'll keep him company."

"Willow, we have some hunting of our own to do." Giles says.

"Once again I'm banished to the demon section of the card catalog."

Trinity claps her hand. "Well I have a talent show to practice for. Call me if anything interesting happens." She says before leaving.

Xander looks at Sid and goes over to the table with him. Giles and Willow go up into the stacks.

"You concentrate on re-animation theory. I'll peck about in organ harvesting. Unless, of course, you prefer..." The librarian trails off.

Willow shakes her head. "That's okay, you can have the organs."

Xander puts Sid in the chair at the end of the table. "So, I guess it's just...you and me, huh?" He turns Sid's head away and pats him. "That looks more comfortable." He says before walking away.

 

"Morgan?" Buffy calls as she walks along the front of the auditorium. She walks up the stairs and to the stage. "Morgan?" She draws a curtain to backstage aside but finds no one there. She goes down to the makeup area and tries to open the door but it's locked. She hears another door close and turns toward the sound. A gust blows through another curtain. Slowly she walks toward it. She quickly turns her head when she senses something behind her, and sees Principal Snyder at the top of the steps to the stage. "Principal Snyder!"

"Looking for something?" He asks in suspicion.

"Have you seen Morgan Shay?"

He walks down the steps. "You know, with everything that's been going on recently, I'm not sure how safe it is for a girl like yourself to be here...alone.

"Well, I was just leaving. And I know how to take care of myself." They stare at each other a moment.

"Alright, then." He goes back up the stairs and leaves.

 

Xander glances at Sid in his chair and turns back to his homework.

 

Willow and Giles look through the stacks. "Look what I found in the section on toys and magic." She says before Reading "'On rare occasions inanimate objects of human quality, such as dolls and mannequins, already mystically possessed of consciousness, have acted upon their desire to become human by harvesting organs.'"

"Emily's heart." Giles says.

"Morgan's dummy."

"Mm."

Xander stands up to get a reference book. He walks back to the table, not noticing that Sid is gone. He slams the book on the table, sits down again and begins to read. After a moment he glances at Sid's chair and jumps up frightened when he sees it empty. "Whoa!" He climbs onto the table.

Giles and Willow run out of the stacks. "What is it?" He asks.

"He's gone!" Xander points to the empty chair. "Sid's gone!"

"What? Oh!"

"Uhhh!" Willow lets out. They all look around themselves in fright.

 

The band finishes the song. Trinity turns to look at the boys. "Okay, guys that was good. Talent show's gonna be great." She tells them. They nod and begin to pack up.

 

Buffy continues to look around backstage when she hears a creak. "Morgan?" She follows the noise, pushing some clothes on a rack aside but finds nothing. She looks down and sees Morgan's body lying on the floor. "Morgan!" She slowly backs away. "Demon's got himself a brain." She continues backing through a bead curtain and hears a snapping noise from above. he looks up and sees a wrought iron chandelier falling and everything goes black.

 

Buffy wakes up and groans. She opens her eyes and finds her vision blurred. She hears quick little footsteps and immediately becomes alert. She sees Sid run across the catwalk above her. She tries to lift the chandelier off of herself but it's too heavy. Sid comes down and Buffy sees his figure in the shadows. "Who's ever out there, I'm gonna hurt you! Badly! If you'll just gimme a minute..." She tries lifting again to no avail.

She looks back to where she saw Sid and sees his knife poised above her. She turns her head just in time to avoid being stabbed in the face. Sid lifts the knife and tries again, but misses. Buffy flails out with her left arm and knocks him away. She tries lifting again, and this time she shifts the chandelier enough to get out from underneath it. Sid attacks her from behind as she slides out, but she knocks him away and into a wall. His knife goes sliding across the floor. Buffy gets out and jumps over on top of Sid, pinning him against the wall with her arm.

"You win. Now you can take your heart and your brain and move on." He says.

"I'm sure they would have made great trophies for your case." Buffy tells him.

"That woulda been justice."

"Yeah, except for one thing: you lost, and now you'll never be human."

"Yeah, well, neither will you."

The look at each other in confusion. "What?" They both ask.

 

In the library Giles and Xander stare at Sid with wide eyes and open mouths. Willow, Buffy, and Trinity just stare and listen.

"This is what I do." Sid says. "I hunt demons. Yeah, you wouldn't know it to look at me. Let's just say there was me, there was a really mean demon, there was a curse, and the next thing I know I'm not me anymore. I'm sitting on some guy's knee, with his hand up my shirt."

"And ever since then you've been a living dummy?" Willow asks.

Sid nods towards Buffy. "The kid here was right all along. I shoulda picked you to team up with. But I didn't because..."

"Because you thought  _I_  was the demon." The slayer finishes.

"Who can blame me for thinking? Look at you! You're strong, athletic, limber..." His eyes glaze over. "nubile..." he shakes his head, clearing his thoughts. "I'm back! In any case, now that this demon's got the heart and brain, he gets to keep the human form he's in for another seven years."

"You didn't pick up on Trinity?" Xander asks.

The neko turns to look at him. "Really? You're just going to out me like that?" She asks, making the boy cringe at his mistake.

Sid looks at her. "What, are you some kind of super-girl too?"

"I'm a neko." She waves at him, her fingernails turning into claws. "But you don't need to worry. I'm not the demon you're looking for."

Buffy looks at Trinity. "Have you picked up anything?"

Trinity shakes her head. "No. My senses get a little fuzzy at school. Unless something is close enough to be a threat to me, I won't notice."

Sid grunts and the tea kettle whistles.

Giles gets up to tend to it. "I must say, it's a welcome change to have someone else explain all these things."

"There were seven of these guys. I've killed six. If I can get the last one, the curse will be lifted and I'll be free. I'm sure it's someone in that stupid talent show." Sid explains.

"Yeah, but now that demon has what he wants. He'll be moving on." Buffy tells him.

"So, once we know who's missing from the show..."

"We'll know who our demon is!" Buffy finishes his thought.

Giles's eyes widen. "The show!"

Buffy looks at him. "What?"

"It's gonna start! I'm supposed to be there!"

Buffy turns to Willow. "Okay, um, start pulling everyone's addresses in the talent show. I-if they're not there, maybe we can catch them at home."

Sid looks at Giles. "And you, get 'em all on stage, form the power circle. Then we can see who's a no-show."

"Um, uh, the what?" Giles asks, confused.

"The power circle. You get everyone together, you get 'em, you know, revved up."

"Right." He walks away, confusion still on his face.

"How'd  _he_ ever get that gig?" Sid asks.

 

Giles walks around backstage. "Fifteen minutes to curtain, everyone! Uh, fifteen minutes!" He turns to leave but Cordelia runs up to him.

"I, I can't go out there. All those people staring at me and judging me like I'm some kind of...Buffy! What if I mess up?"

"Cordelia, there, uh, there-there's, uh, uh, an adage, uh, that, uh, if you're feeling nervous then, uh, you should imagine the entire audience are in their underwear."

"Eww! Even Mrs. Franklin? Uhhh!"

"Perhaps not."

Cordelia nods. "Yeah."

"Um, alright, um, we'll assemble on the stage in five minutes for the, um, uh, power thing." Giles calls to everyone.

 

Buffy and Sid sit on the catwalk, waiting to see who's missing from the group.

"So, what's your deal, kid? I don't figure you for a demon hunter." Sid asks.

"I'm a Vampire Slayer."

His wooden eyes widen. "You?! You're the Slayer?" She nods. "I knew a Slayer in the 30's. Korean chick. Very hot. We're talking  _muscle_  tone. Man, we had some times." He earns a look from Buffy. "Hey, that was pre-dummy, alright? Now, I was a guy!"

"So, you kill the demon and the curse is lifted, right?"

"That's the drill."

"You don't actually turn into a prince, do you? I-I mean, your body..."

"Is dust and bones. When I say free..."

"You mean dead." She says somberly.

"Don't get sniffly on me, sis. I've lived a lot longer than most demon hunters. Or Slayers, for that matter." Buffy looks down, thinking about her life. Sid puts a hand on her knee. "Of course, if you want to snuggle up and comfort me..."

Buffy takes his hand off her knee. "So, that horny dummy thing really  _isn't_ an act, is it?"

"Nope!"

"Yuck!" They look down to the stage.

 

"I-is everybody here?" Giles asks. The students gather around him.

 

"Okay, here comes our line-up." Sid says.

 

"Quickly, everyone! Uh...um, power circle." The students arrange themselves in a circle and hold hands. Sid and Buffy scan the group for any missing members. Giles looks around as well. "Well, that's that, then. Um, everybody, uh, get ready!" The student's look at him in confusion but quickly break away as they continue preparing for the show.

"Hold on." Buffy says before leaping off the catwalk. Sid watches her land on her feet and walk over to Giles.

Giles looks at Buffy. "No one's missing."

"So the demon isn't in the show."

"It seems not. Uh, tell the others. Look, it's nearly curtain. I must get the show rolling."

"Right."

"Right."

She looks for Sid up on the catwalk, but he's gone. "Sid?"

Giles notices Principle Snyder walking around backstage and faces him. The short man just puts his fist into his palm and walks away. Giles follows after him.

"Sid?" Buffy asks. She stops next to a workbench when something drips onto her arm from above. She shakes it off and looks up. She reaches up to a shelf to see what's dripping, and Morgan's brain falls down and into her hands. She lets out a startled yelp and drops the brain. It jiggles when it hits the floor.

 

Willow sits at the library computer. Buffy walks up to her, staring at her hands. "I'm never gonna stop washing my hands."

"So, the dummy tells us that he's a demon hunter. And we're, like, fine, la la la la. He takes off, and now there's a brain. Does anybody else feel like they've been Keyser Soze'd?" Xander asks.

"Sid's on the level, I'm sure of it. But why would the demon have rejected the brain? I-I mean, I thought Morgan was the smartest kid in school."

"He was, look at his grades: all A's. He was even taking college classes." Willow tells them before frowning. "Wait a second."

"What?" Trinity asks.

"All these sick days."

Xander looks at the screen. "He was off for, like, half the year!"

"Check the school nurse's file." Buffy tells her.

Willow types in the command. "Look at this! 'In case of emergency, contact Dr. Dale Leggett, California Institute of Neurosurgery, Cancer Ward.'"

"Brain cancer?" Xander asks.

"That's why he had all the headaches."

"This means that whatever's out there still needs a healthy, intelligent brain." Buffy says.

"In other words, I'm safe!" Xander smiles.

"And it's gonna be looking for the smartest person around." They look at Willow.

The redhead looks at her friends. "What?"

 

Giles helps Marc set up for his act, a pair a weights in his hands. "Yes, if you, you calibrated the units of weight then you could calculate the, uh, specific maximum velocity achieved before the point of impact."

"Gee, Mr. Giles, you're really..." his eyes light up. "Smart! Could you do me a favor?"

 

"What could a demon possibly want from me?" Willow asks.

"What's the square root of 841?" Trinity questions randomly.

"29." Willow answers quickly. "Oh, yeah."

"Don't worry, Willow. As long as you're with us there's absolutely no way that demon is gonna get what he wants." Buffy tells her.

 

Marc tests his guillotine on a honeydew melon.

Giles picks up one of the halves. "Oh, my!"

"Pretty cool, huh?" Marc smiles.

"Are you sure there's no one else who could help you out?"

"My assistant got sick. You won't have to say anything. I'll, I'll show you. Lie down."

Giles inspects the guillotine. "Uh, uh, how, how exactly does it work?"

Marc pulls the blade back up by its rope and ties it down. "A good magician never tells his secrets." His hand and arm begin to revert to his demon form. He shakes his sleeve to cover it up. "C'mon. We haven't got much time."

 

"This is ridiculous." Buffy paces back and forth. "We can't just sit here and wait for him to come to us. We have to figure out who we're dealing with."

"I still vote dummy." Xander says.

Buffy shakes her head. "No. Okay, so we ruled out all the people in the talent show..."

"That's because they were all there. But that's before we found the brain."

"Right. So it probably  _is_ one of them. And, and Giles doesn't know! He's with them all right now!"

"Uch! Giles can handle himself. I mean, he  _is_ really..." Xander's eyes widen in realization. "Smart!"

Buffy slams the door to the library open and rushes out, running down the hall. "GILES!" She yells. Xander, Trinity, and Willow follow behind her.

 

Giles is strapped down to the guillotine bench. "Sh-sh-shouldn't it be aimed at my neck?" He asks nervously.

"No. No, this way your scalp gets sliced off and your brains just...come pouring out." Marc slides the head restraint down onto Giles' forehead. He reaches over and locks it down with a padlock.

"What exactly is the trick?"

"Trick?" He pulls the chest restraint tighter.

"Marc?" Giles asks, but is ignored. Marc goes over to the block where the rope holding the guillotine blade is tied down. He grabs his hatchet and takes a swing at the rope. Giles tenses in fear. Mark takes another swing, thinning the rope. "M-Marc?" Another swing, the rope is almost severed and the blade slips a bit. Giles looks up in terror. Another swing and the rope is only being held together by a thread.

Marc raises the hatchet for the final cut, but Buffy lunges at him, tackling him to the floor. She leg sweeps Marc, kicking his legs out from under him as he tries to get up. She stands up and readies herself for a fight. Marc tries to return to his feet but she throws an inverted crescent kick to his face, and he goes down again. Marc growls as he starts to get up, and Buffy sees that the skin on his face is beginning to turn back into its demon state.

"Ewww!" She grimaces.

Marc takes advantage of her distraction and jumps up and punches her, then follows up with a backhand fist to her face. She spins around and falls to the floor. The rope stretches and snaps. The blade begins to fall. Giles yells out and clamps his eyes shut. At the last instant Xander grabs the rope from midair and stops the blade. Giles hears it stop and opens his eyes. He sees it go back up as Xander pulls on the rope. Buffy gets up, but is punched by the demon and falls again.

Willow goes to Giles and begins to undo the restraints. "Where are the keys?"

"Marc's got it!" Giles tells her.

Trinity grows her claws out and tries to scratches at the lock but it's too thick.

"Willow!" Xander kicks the hatchet over to her and she begins to help Trinity try to break the lock.

"Hurry!" Giles says.

Buffy gets up again and runs over to Marc. She grabs him and falls backward, pulling him down with her and flipping him over onto his back. She flips up to her feet and turns to face him in a front stance. When he gets up she punches him in the face and kicks him in the stomach with a hopping front snap kick. He staggers backward and stumbles into his disappearing-act box, and the door closes on him.

Willow and Trinity keep at the lock on the guillotine.

"How do you lock this thing?" Buffy asks. Suddenly Marc just punches through the box and reaches for her. She quickly backs away as he kicks and shoves his way out of the box. He has completely reverted to his demon form now. He comes at her, grabs her by the neck, and lifts her from the floor and slams her against the wall.

"What's happening?" Giles yells.

Trinity sees her friend in trouble and hisses in anger before taking another swipe at the lock, finally breaking it. Willow pushes the head restraint off of Giles, who gets up as fast he can, reaching down to release his feet from the restraints.

Sid jumps onto the demons back and begins stabbing him with his knife. "I found you!" The demon ignores Sid and continues slamming Buffy into the wall.

Giles gets himself loose. Sid has forced the demon to let go of Buffy and has jumped off. She hits the demon in the face with an open hand punch followed by a backhand punch. Giles gets off of the bench as Buffy does a full spinning side kick to the demon's gut, making him stagger back onto the bench and land with his neck in the guillotine.

"Let go!" Buffy tells Xander. He lets the rope go and blade falls, decapitating the demon. Its body slumps lifelessly. Willow cringes at the sight and they all stare at the body.

"Uh...I must say, all of you...your t-timing is impeccable." Giles says.

"And now for the big finish." Sid says from his position over the demon's chest, his knife at the ready.

"What are you doing?" Buffy asks.

"It's not enough. He'll come back. You have to get the heart. Then all of this'll be over."

She holds out her hand for the knife. "Let me."

"I got it. Thanks." He plunges the blade into the demon's heart and pulls it out before slumping over the body with the knife still in his hands, now a lifeless puppet.

Buffy looks at Sid in sadness and sighs. Giles takes off his glasses. Buffy gently picks the puppet up and holds him in her arms as she starts to walk off the stage. "It's over." She says quietly. She stops as the curtain is drawn and looks out at the audience. Giles puts his glasses back on and stares out as well. Willow is still holding the hatchet as she stands there looking out at the audience with a nervous look on her face. Buffy and Xander look out, too. Trinity hides her hand behind her back and her claws return to normal fingernails.

Principal Snyder looks at the stage in confusion. "I don't get it. What is it? Avant-garde?"

 

Willow, Buffy, and Xander perform their act.

Willow stands stiffly in front of the audience, her face even paler from fear. "Oh, ruler of my country, Oedipus, you see our company around the Altar, and I, the priest of Zeus!"

"Ha, ha! They prophesize that I should kill my father. But he is dead." Xander says nervously as her kneels down, feigning a grab at make-believe dirt. "And hidden deep in the soil. But surely I must fear my mother's bed."

Buffy walks around Willow and Xander in boredom. "Oh, Oedipus, Oedipus, unhappy Oedipus." She briefly places a hand on Xander's head. "That is all I can call you," She walks back over to her spot. "and all that I ever shall call you." She turns away from the audience.

Xander stands up. "Darkness! And horror of darkness. Unfolding, restless, visitant, sped by an ill wind in haste." He says. Willow is frozen in fright. Buffy turns around and rolls her eyes as Xander begins to fumble his lines. "Madness, and...madness a-and stabbing pain, and, a-and, uh...oh...oh...memory of, uh, i-ill deeds I have done."

Buffy nudges Willow for her cue. The red head is too deep in her fear and runs from the stage. Xander and Buffy stand together to fill the gap left between them. The curtain closes and they release a sigh of relief.

Students quickly begin to set up for the next act. Xander and Buffy make their way off the stage.

Trinity walks by them. "You guys make sure Willow's okay. I'm up next."

Xander looks at her. "You never told us what you're doing."

Trinity smirks. "You'll see."

The crowd sits and waits for the next act. Giles walks out the spot light on him. "And now we have Trinity Clairborn, accompanied by..." He looks at the card. "D-Dingoes Ate My Baby." He walks off the stage.

The curtains open and Trinity stands in front of a microphone. The band begins to play behind her and she begins to sing.

_When you close your eyes, do you see my face? (x3)_

The scoobies eyes widen at the sound of Trinity's voice.

_Find it hard to breath when, you're standing on my neck._

_Put on an old song, let's just sing along._

_Even just for a little while._

_Oh, tell me you need me, cause I'm grieving._

_Love you so much it makes me sick._

_One more hug. Then pull the plug._

_You know, I'd rather die right here, than live one day without you._

Trinity begins to sway to the beat.

_So tell me it's All Right._

_It'll be okay._

_Look into my eyes, tell me pretty lies._

_I don't care, just stay._

_No, this life ain't worth living,_

_when I'm giving every little piece of my heart_

_is breaking I've been replace and I thought I had something, something to give._

_So many people with so many dreams._

_So many hopes that they'll never achieve._

_Even though I stand rejected, I've been discarded._

_Sickened and lost amongst the broken hearted,_

Devon sings backup.

_She tells me it's all right._

_It'll be okay._

_Look into my eyes, tell me pretty lies._

_I don't care, just stay._

_Don't ask me why, I just can't say._

_One day little girl we're gonna show the world_

_We're gonna laugh one day._

_When you close your eyes, do you see my face? (x4)_

_It's all right, it'll be okay_

_Look into my eyes_

_Tell me pretty lies, I don't care just stay._

_Don't ask me why, I just can't say._

_One day little girl we're gonna show the world_

_We're gonna laugh one day._

_Oooh ooooh ooooooh._

The crowd breaks into applause as the music dies down. The band bows to the audience and the curtains close.

 

Trinity walks over to her friends. "So, what'd ya think?"

They look at her with wide eyes. "Where did that come from?" Buffy asks.

The neko shrugs. "I like to sing sometimes."

"And the song?" Willow asks.

"I write sometime too."

"Any more hidden talents we don't know about?" Xander asks.

Devon walks over to them. "Man the crowd loved us." He looks at Trinity. "If you ever feel like it, maybe you can play a gig with a band a few times."

Trinity smiles at him. "Maybe.

 

**Song: It's All Right by Killola**


	10. Nightmares

Buffy quietly walks into the entrance of the Master's lair with a stake in her hand. She stops and scans the area around her, keeping an eye out for potential threats. She slowly makes her way to the floor below, tightening her grip on the stake. She doesn't see the danger hiding behind a pillar. Sensing something behind her, Buffy turns around and raises her stake. The Master hisses at her, making the girl freeze in fear. The stake tumbles out of Buffy's hand and she begins to back away. The Master advances towards her. Seeing that his prey has nowhere to retreat he clasps a clawed hand around her neck and closes in for the bite.

"NO! NO!" Buffy screams.

* * *

Joyce sits on the edge of Buffy's bed, attempting to shake her awake.

"No…" Buffy mutters.

"Yes." Joyce tells her. The sound makes the teen's eyes snap open. "It's time to get up for school."

"Mom?" Buffy asks, relieved that it was just a dream.

Joyce looks at her in concern. "Are you alright?"

"No. Uh, yeah! Yeah! I'm, I'm fine! Oh…" She sits up. "School! Great." She tosses the covers off and quickly gets out of bed.

"You _wanna_ go to school?" Joyce asks as she stands up, never seeing her daughter so happy about the subject before.

"Sure! Why not?"

"Okay." She walks over to the window and opens the blinds. "Good day to buy that lottery ticket. I spoke with your father."

"He's coming, right?"

"You're on for this weekend."

Buffy smiles. "Good."

* * *

Willow, Buffy, and Trinity walk through the down the hallway. "So, do you see your dad a lot?" Willow asks.

"Not a whole lot. He's still in L.A. He, like, comes down for weekends sometimes."

"When did they get divorced?" Trinity asks.

"Well, it wasn't finalized till last year, but they were separated before that."

"Musta been harsh." Willow says as they approach Buffy's locker.

"Yeah, that's the word you're looking for." The blond works the combination. "I-I mean, they were really good about it around me, anyway, but still…"

"My parents don't even bicker. Sometimes they glare. Do you know why your folks split up?"

Trinity leans against the lockers and watches as the two converse, not really having anything to offer to the conversation. She lost her parents when she was young and barely had any memories of them. The only parental figure in her life was Carter and since he raised her by himself there was never anyone to fight with.

Buffy opens her locker. "I didn't ask. They just stopped getting along. I'm sure I was a really big help, though, with all the slaying and everything. I was in so much trouble. I was a big mess."

"Well, I'm sure that didn't have anything to do with him leaving." Willow tells her.

"No." Buffy says. Trinity can hear the hint of doubt in her voice as she closes her locker.

"And he still comes down on weekends."

"Sometimes."

* * *

In a classroom, Cordelia checks her makeup in a mirror when a shadow appears over her. She looks up and sees a boy checking his paper in the light. "Hello? Doofus!" The boy looks at her. "You're in my light."

Xander walks over. "Wendell, what is wrong with you? Don't you know that she is the center of the universe, and the rest of us merely revolve around her?" He says sarcastically.

Cordelia sneers at them. "Why don't you revolve yourselves out of my light?"

The bell rings and the boys go to their seats. Xander sees Willow, Buffy, and Trinity walk in. "Uh, Wendell was in Cordelia's light."

"I'm so ashamed." Wendell plays along.

"Why is she so Evita-like?" Willow asks as they take their seats.

"I think it's the hair." Buffy guesses.

Willow smiles. "It weighs heavy on the cerebral cortex."

Trinity feels tempted to join in but is a little torn due to her and Cordelia's somewhat shaky almost nonexistent truce they've had going on.

"Hey, guys, was there any homework?" Xander asks.

"We're doing active listening today." The redhead answers.

"Cool!" He smiles. "What's active listening?"

"That would be the homework." The teens take their seats.

"Chapter five? Active listening?" Buffy shows him her book. "Where you put on your big ears and really focus on the other person?"

Xander stares with a blank look on his face. "Ms. Tishler demonstrated it yesterday." Wendell adds.

"With you!" Willow says.

"She was wearing that tight sweater?" Trinity reminds him.

Xander's eyes light up. "Oh, the midnight blue angora! See, I was listening." He nods, receiving an unimpressed look from Willow.

Ms. Tishler addresses the class. "Alright, take your seats. In a moment we will choose partners and practice what we read about in chapter five." She sees Xander cup his ears with his hands while smiling and shaking his head around. "Good, Xander, that's the spirit!"

Willow, Trinity, and Buffy share an amused glance. "Before we do, let's review. Isaacson's research led him to conclude that one of our most fundamental needs after food and shelter is to be heard."

Buffy drops her pencil and bends down to pick it up.

"Wendell, would you read the first two paragraphs on page seventy-eight…"

As Buffy sits back up she sees a young brown haired boy standing at the door, looking right at her.

"…where Isaacson describes the rapid improvement active listening brought to some special needs clients."

Wendell opens his book and screams, dropping it onto the desk. The class turns to look and releases screams of their own at the sight of a dozen tarantulas crawling out of it. They jump out of the seats and quickly back away, horror filled gazes glued to Wendell as the spiders begin to crawl all over him.

Cordelia backs into Trinity in her haste to get away. Trinity unconsciously grips the girl in her arms before shifting to move in front of her.

"Please! Get 'em off of me!" The boy screams. "Help! Help! Get 'em off of me! Help me! Oh, please help me! Please!"

The boy at the door sends him an apologetic look. "Sorry about that."

"Please help me!"

* * *

"Fear is a wonderful thing. It is _the_ most powerful force in the human world." The Master says and crouches to face Collin. "Not love, not hate…fear! When you were a mortal boy, what did you fear?"

"Monsters." The boy answers.

"Ooh." He stands. "We are _defined_ by the things we fear." He walks over to a large cross. "This symbol, these two planks of wood, it confounds me. Suffuses me with mortal dread. But fear is in the mind." He places his hand on the cross, not even flinching as it begins to burn him. "Like pain. It can be controlled." He lets go. "If I can face my fear, it cannot master me." He turns back to Collin. "Something is happening above. Something new, powerful, psychic force. Do you feel it?"

"I feel change."

"Change. Yes. For the worse."

* * *

Joyce pulls the car to a stop in front of the school. "You're awfully quiet this morning."

"I didn't sleep well." Buffy tells her.

"I'll say. I came in to check on you twice. You were yelling in your sleep. Do you know what you were dreaming?"

She shakes her head. "Not really. Oh, no, my bag! I-I packed it for the weekend and I forgot it!"

"You and your dad can swing by the house and get your bag. It's not an international crisis."

"Okay. Yeah, I just, uh, had meant to bring it. H-he's picking me up here, right? A-at 3:30?"

"Honey, a-are you worried your father isn't gonna show?"

"No! N-not really. Should I be?"

"Well, of course, not! I-I-I just, I-I know it's a hard situation. You just have to remember that your father adores you. No more than I do, by the way."

Buffy smiles. "Goodbye."

Her mother returns the smile. "Have a great day."

"Thanks." She gets out of the car.

* * *

Buffy turns a corner in the hallway and is met by her three friends.

"Oh, Buffy, we've been looking for you." Willow says.

"We have?" Xander asks.

"Oh, about the spiders, did you talk to Giles about-"

"Oh, the spiders! Willow's been kind of, um, what's the word I'm looking for? Insane about what happened yesterday."

"It couldn't have been a prank." Trinity says. "Usually flat surface plus spider plus flat surface equals dead spider. Oh the joys of the Hellmouth were all of your most terrifying nightmares come true."

Willow shivers. "I don't like spiders, okay? Their furry bodies, and their sticky webs, and what do they need all those legs for anyway? I'll tell you; for crawling across your face in the middle of the night." She looks at Xander. "Ewww! How do they not ruffle you?"

He shrugs. "I'm sorry! I'm unruffled by spiders. Now, if a bunch of Nazis crawled all over my face…"

"Mm, it was pretty intense." Buffy says.

"Thank you." Willow nods.

"Well, the Hellmouth; the center of mystical convergence, supernatural monsters, been there." Xander agrees with Trinity.

The blonde looks at him. "Little blase' there, aren't you?"

"I'm not worried. If there's something bad out there we'll find, you'll slay, we'll party!"

"Thanks for having confidence in me." They walk into the library.

"You da man, Buff!"

"Okay, but we're still caring about the spiders here. Let's not forget the spiders." Willow redirects the conversation.

"Well, Giles said he was gonna look it up. Giles?" Buffy calls, looking around the room.

"Maybe he's in the faculty room."

After a moment they see the Watcher walk out of the stacks with a bemused look on his face.

"Hey, Giles! Wakey, wakey!" The Slayer calls.

"I was, uh, in the stacks. I got lost." He says.

"Did you find any theories on spiders coming out of books?" Trinity asks him.

Xander reaches around Willow's shoulder with his arm while wiggling his fingers. "Big, hairy, crawly…" The red head jumps, turning around and hitting him in the shoulder. "It's funny if you're me."

"I couldn't find anything, uh…particularly illuminating. Um, I think perhaps you'd best have a chat with Wendell himself."

Buffy gives him an odd look. "Okay. If he can still talk." She says before leading her friends out of the room.

Giles wonders back into the stacks.

* * *

They find Wendell outside sitting on a bench.

"Hey, Wendell. How are you?" Buffy asks.

He looks up. "Huh?"

Trinity tilts her head. "You okay?" Wendell doesn't answer.

"Good talking to ya, man." Xander pats him on the back and turns to leave but Buffy pulls him back.

"Do you guys want something?" He asks.

"We just thought you might wanna talk about what happened." Buffy says.

"You know, yesterday? With the spiders?" Willow adds.

He sighs. "I don't know what to say about that."

"There's nothing _to_ say. You saw two hundred insects, you Gonzoed, anybody would have." Xander tells him.

"They're not insects. They're arachnids."

"They're from the Middle East?"

He shakes his head in irritation. "Spiders are arachnids. They have eight legs. Insects only have six. Why does everyone make that mistake?"

"Don't know. Has anything like this ever happened before?" Buffy asks him. He nods. "When?"

"Lots of times."

Willow cringes. "Ew! You must hate spiders more than I do."

Wendell laughs with a smile on his face. "I don't hate spiders. I love 'em. They hate me."

Cordelia walks by behind Wendell and turns to Buffy. "I hope you studied for the history test."

Buffy looks at her in confusion. "What history test?"

"The one we're having in fourth period right now."

"There's a history test? Nobody told me there was a history test! I haven't…I…" Buffy begins to panic. "Okay, I will catch up with you guys later." She runs off.

Willow takes a seat next to Wendell. "What do you mean, you love spiders?"

"It is platonic, right?" Xander chuckles. Trinity nudges him.

"I had the best collection in the tri-county area. Browns and tarantulas and black widows…" His face falls. "Then my folks shipped me off to wilderness camp. All my brother had to do was _maintain_ their habitats. Instead he left their heat lamp on for a _week_. When I came home they were all dead. That's when the nightmares started."

"The nightmares?" Trinity asks.

"It's always the same. I'm sitting in the classroom, teacher asks me to read something, I open up my book and then there they are. They're comin' after me. God, can you blame them after what I did?"

"And that's how it happens? Every time?"

"Yesterday in class I thought I'd just nodded off again. But then everyone else started screaming, too."

Trinity looks away in thought only to see Jessie standing across the quad. She gasps but when a student passes by no one is there.

* * *

Buffy searches through the hallways for her class.

Cordelia waits by the door, holding it open. "You don't know where class is, do you?"

"Uh…"

She rolls her eyes. "Hardly a shocker. You've cut history just about every time we've had it."

"Well, I was there the first day. I think." Buffy says.

"It's in here."

"I haven't been to class, I haven't read any of the assignments, how am I gonna pass this test?"

"Blind luck?" The brunette shrugs.

Buffy glances at the other students in the room. She looks at Cordelia, who seems to be breezing through the test. The teacher walks through the classroom to check his students' progress. He glances at Buffy's blank test and continues on.

Buffy flips through the pages, seeing that the test is full of short answer questions. She glances at the clock and sees that its 11:20 before looking back to her test.

"Well, at least I know my name." She says and goes to write only for her pencil to break. She sighs exasperatedly and grabs her pencil sharpener. Once she finishes sharpening her pencil she looks up and sees that it's now 12:10. Her eyes widen and she looks around the class. The teacher watches her intently as he taps his pencil. She looks back down to her test when suddenly the bell rings. The students around her get up and turn their test in while Buffy looks on in shock.

As the students begin to file out of the room, Buffy catches the gaze of the young boy that she saw earlier. He watches her with a sad look on his face before walking off. He walks down the hallway and sees two girls talking as they come down the stairs.

"Well, they both got detention, which is completely unfair since Sean started it. Anyway, it means we can't do the movie." She says. Her friend shoots her a disappointed look as they stop in front of the basement door. "I'm gonna take a," She makes a smoking gesture. "break." Her friend nods and walks off. She checks to see if anyone is watching before opening the door and going in.

The boy shakes his head. "You shouldn't go in there." He says to himself.

The girl closes the door behind her and walks down the steps of the dark basement. She checks to see if anyone's there. Satisfied that the coast is clear, she puts down her books and pulls out a pack of cigarettes. She fails to see the hulking figure hiding behind a rack.

He charges towards her, the low lighting revealing his badly scarred face. "Lucky nineteen!" He shouts as he attacks her. The girl screams as she is beaten by the deformed club-like arm and tries to roll out of the way of his blows.

* * *

Buffy, Giles, and Trinity look for the girl's hospital room.

"I think they said room 3016." Buffy says.

"Do either of you know the girl?" Giles asks.

Buffy shrugs. "To say hi to. Laura's nice enough. Nobody saw who attacked her?"

"Well, I was rather hoping that Laura did. Or if Trinity could recognize a scent of some kind."

They walk into Laura's room and see the girl lying in a hospital bed, covered in cuts and bruises.

"Hey, Laura." Trinity greets.

"Hi." The girl says weakly.

"I hope we're not intruding, um…" Giles clears his throat, holding out a small potted flower arrangement. Buffy takes it from him and sets it next to the bed.

"That's okay. I don't wanna be left alone."

"You understand we're anxious to make sure this, this doesn't happen again."

Buffy takes a seat near the bed. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"I was in the basement. I went down for a smoke. There was…someone there."

"Someone you knew?"

"I've never…seen anything like it."

The three visitors share a look. "It?"

"Can you describe it?" Giles asks.

Trinity hears the girl's heartbeat pick up as she struggles for an answer. "Hey, that's okay. Don't worry about it." She tells her.

Giles, seeing the potential distress nods. "Yes, you, you, you just rest now."

"You know, but…" Buffy trails off.

Just then a nurse walks in. "Hi, Laura."

"…i-if you remember anything? You can tell us. Even if it may seem weird."

"She needs her rest now." The nurse tells them. The three begin to leave.

"Lucky nineteen." Laura says.

They stop and turn around. "I'm sorry?" Giles asks.

"It's what he said, right before…" A troubled look crosses her face. "He said 'lucky nineteen'. That's weird, right?"

"Yes. Yes, it is."

"Feel better." Buffy smiles. Trinity waves at her.

"Take care." Giles says and they leave the room. He stops when he sees a doctor in the hallway. "Doctor, is she gonna be alright?"

He looks at them. "You family?"

"Friends." Trinity clarifies.

"She'll recover. She's got a couple of shattered bones, a little internal bleeding…she got off pretty easy."

"Easy?"

Giles looks at him in disbelief. "Have you looked up the word lately?"

"Well, the first one's still in a coma." The doctor leads them down the hall and stops at another room.

"First what?" Buffy asks him.

"First victim." He looks into the room. "They found him a week ago. Exact same M.O. as the girl, only he's in worse shape. If he doesn't wake up soon…" He sighs and shakes his head. "Somebody's gotta stop this guy."

"Somebody will."

* * *

At school, a punk boy talks to his friends. "Listen, I'm not afraid of him. Hey, if he wants to fight, then I'm takin' him down. I'm not backin' off on this. This is about honor. I'll break his neck!"

Willow and Xander walk to her locker. "I'm just saying, Wendell had a dream and then that exact thing happened."

"Which is a fair wiggins, I admit, but do you think that ties in with Laura?"

"I dunno. Maybe she dreamed about getting beat up. We should ask Buffy when she and Trinity get back from the hospital." She tells him. Xander looks across the hall and grins.

The punk's mother suddenly appears in the hall. "Oh, there's my little baby!"

He looks at her in shock and embarrassment. "Mom, what are you doing here? Mom…"

She laughs and kisses his cheek, ignoring his struggle to get out of her grip. "How's my little pookie?"

"Mom, mom, please don't kiss me in front of the guys! It's embarrassing, mom! Please!"

She laughs again. "You cute little rascal, you!"

"Mom…thanks, but mom, please, my friends are right here…"

Willow closes her locker and they head to their next class.

"It could be a coincidence. Y'know, Wendell finds a spider's nest, and we all wig because he dreamt about spiders. So it may not be connected." Xander says. They enter the classroom and are greeted by the sound of laughter. "If there is a connection it doesn't sound like anything…" He sees the classes gaze locked on him. "What?"

Willow looks at the laughing students in confusion before following their gaze. She looks behind her at Xander and sees that his clothes are gone, and he's standing there in his underwear. "Xander! What happened to your…?!"

He looks down in horror. "I-I-I dunno! I was, uh, dressed a minute ago! It's a dream. It's gotta be a dream." He pinches himself. "Ow! Wake up." He pinches himself again. "Ow! Gotta wake up." He realizes he's not dreaming and runs from the room screaming. Willow chases after him.

* * *

In the library, Giles goes over a number of newspapers. "This can't be happening. This can't be…"

Buffy and Trinity walk in. "What's the word?" The blonde asks.

"Oh, uh, I've got back issues of the, uh, papers, um, to try to do some research."

"Did you find anything?" Trinity asks him.

"I don't know."

Buffy sends him a dubious look. "You don't know if you didn't find anything."

"I'm having a problem."

"What is it?"

"I-I can't read!"

Buffy's eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean? You can read, like, three languages." Trinity nods in agreement.

"Five, actually, on a normal day. Th-the words here don't make any s-sense. I-it's gibberish!" He steps away in frustration.

Buffy looks at the paper. "That's him."

"Who?" Trinity asks.

"The kid I've been seeing around school." She begins to read aloud. "'Twelve-year-old Billy Palmer was found beaten and unconscious after his kiddie league game Saturday. Doctors describe his condition as critical.'"

"When was this published?"

Buffy looks at the date. "Last week. It says he's in a coma in intensive care. This is the boy from the hospital!"

Giles looks at her. "The first victim? Uh…you, you've seen him around the school?"

"Yeah, first when the spiders got Wendell, and, and then when I didn't know a thing on the history test. I thought it was weird seeing this kid around, but I forgot about it."

"That's not possible; the kid's been in a coma for a week." Trinity says.

"How could he have been here?" Giles asks.

Buff looks at him. "What, am I knowledge girl now? Explanations are your terrain."

"Uh, well, um, there's astral projection, uh, the theory that while one sleeps one has another body, a-an astral body, which can travel through time and space."

"Billy's in a coma. That's like sleep, right?"

"Yeah, but sometimes people don't ever wake up." Trinity tells her.

"Could I be seeing Billy's asteroid body?"

"Astral body, and I-I don't know. As usual, one doesn't have an inordinate amount of information to work with." Giles says.

"Lucky nineteen."

Buffy's father, Hank Summers, walks into the library. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere. Why aren't you in class?"

Buffy looks at him, surprised. "Dad, what are you doing here? Y-you're not supposed to pick me up till after school. Is something wrong?"

"Well, I, I need to talk to you."

"Something _is_ wrong. Is it mom?"

"No, no, it's not your mother, she's fine." He lowers his voice. "Could I speak with you for a moment? Privately?"

"Um, sure! Yeah." She looks at Giles and Trinity. "Uh, oh! I'm sorry. Dad, this is Mr. Giles, the librarian, and my friend Trinity. Uh, this is my dad, Hank Summers."

Giles shakes his hand. "My pleasure."

"Likewise." Hank says, and shakes hands with Trinity.

"I'll be back." Buffy tells them and the two leave the library.

"I'll go see if there's anything on astral projection." Trinity tells Giles, who tries reading the papers.

* * *

Trinity is standing in the stacks looking at a book when she sees movement out of the corner of her eye. She looks up just in time to see someone turn the corner. "Giles?" She receives no answer. She follows after the person and sees them turn another corner. She lightly jogs after them only to end up back at the tables, where Giles tries to make sense of the papers. "Was someone in here?"

Giles looks up. "Uh, n-no, no one has come in. Why?"

"I could've swo-" She shakes her head. "Nevermind."

* * *

Buffy and her dad walk around outside. "I came early because there's something I've needed to tell you." He says. "About your mother and me. Why we split up."

"Well, you always told me it was because…"

"Uh, I know we always said it was because we'd just grown too far apart."

"Yeah, isn't that true?"

"Well, c'mon, honey, let's, let's sit down." He sighs once they're seated. "You're old enough now to know the truth."

"Is there someone else?"

He shakes his head. "No. No, it was nothing like that."

"Then what was it?"

He looks at her. "It was you."

"Me?"

"Having you. Raising you. Seeing you everyday. I mean, do you have any idea what that's like?"

Buffy looks at him, devastation in her eyes. "What?"

"Gosh, you don't even see what's right in front of your face, do you? Well, big surprise there, all you ever think about is yourself. You get in trouble. You embarrass us with all the crazy stunts you pull, and do I have to go on?"

"No. Please don't."

"You're sullen and…rude and…you're not nearly as bright as I thought you were going to be…" He tells her. "Hey, Buffy, let's be honest. Could you stand to live in the same house with a daughter like that?"

A tear rolls down her cheek. "Why are you saying all these things?"

"Because they're true. I think that's the least we owe one another." He continues on casually when Buffy sniffles and begins to cry. "You know, I don't think it's very mature, getting blubbery when I'm just trying to be honest. Speaking of which, I don't really get anything out of these weekends with you. So, what do you say we just don't do them anymore?" Buffy stares at him in shock but he just pats her on the leg. "I sure thought you'd turn out differently." He gets up and leaves.

Buffy watches him go for a moment and looks down. Her father walks past the building, not seeing Billy standing there staring at Buffy, who looks up again, locking eyes with him. Billy turns and leaves. Buffy attempts to compose herself.

* * *

Xander and Willow burst through the library doors; Xander pulling on his gym shirt. "Red alert! Where's Buffy?"

"Uh, she, she just stepped out. Her, her father came by early." Giles tells him. "He, he needed to talk to her."

Trinity walks out of the stacks. "Where are your clothes?"

"Oh, don't I wish I had the answer to _that_ question." Her friend says.

"Xander kinda found himself in front of our class not wearing much of anything." Willow explains.

"Except my underwear."

Willow giggles. "It was really-" she looks at Xander. "bad. It was a bad thing."

"'Bad thing'? I was naked. 'Bad thing' doesn't cover it."

"Everyone staring? I would hate to have everyone paying attention to me like that."

"With nudity! It's a total nightmare."

Willow's eyes widen in realization. "Well, yeah Xander! I-it's your nightmare!"

"Except the part with me waking up goin' 'it's all a dream'. It happened."

"Like it happened to Wendell. That thing with the spiders? Wendell had a recurring dream about that."

"I-I dreamt that I got lost in the stacks and I…" Giles trails off. "I couldn't read…of course!"

"Uh, our dreams are coming true?" Xander asks.

"Dreams?" Giles scoffs. "That would be a musical comedy version of this. Nightmares, our, our nightmares are coming true."

"So, why is this happening?" Willow asks.

"Billy." Trinity realizes. Giles nods in agreement.

"Well, that explanation was shorter than usual." Xander looks at Willow. "It's Billy!" He turns back to Giles. "Who's Billy?"

"He's a boy in the local hospital. He was beaten. He's in a coma. Somehow I think he's crossed over from the nightmare world he's trapped in."

"And he brought the nightmare world with him. Thanks a bunch, Billy."

"How could he do that?" Willow asks.

"Things like that are easy when you live on a Hellmouth."

"Well, um, we have to stop it." Xander states.

"Hopefully before things get any worse." Trinity says. "Or else everyone in Sunnydale is gonna be facing their own worst nightmares."

* * *

Cordelia opens her locker and looks at her mirror. Her eyes widen in horror at the sight of her hair uncontrollably frizzed out. She tries to force a comb through it to no avail. "I don't understand! This can't be happening! I was just at the salon!" She puts a hand on her head. "Oh, my God!" She presses her hands to her hair, attempting to tame it.

* * *

Buffy walks through the courtyard with her arms crossed and a sad look on her face. Billy walks down the stairs and towards the gym entrance and goes in once all the students leave. Buffy follows him and finds him sitting on the stands. "Billy?" The boy turns to her. "Are you Billy Palmer?"

"I'm Billy."

"Why are you here?" She sits down next to him. "Did something bad happen to you after your game?"

"Something bad?" He runs his hands through his hair. "I…I don't remember."

"Do you remember playing baseball?"

He nods. "Uh huh. Yeah. I play second base."

"Are you 'lucky nineteen'?"

He looks at her. "That's what he calls me."

"Who?"

"The Ugly Man. He wants to kill me. A-and he hurt that girl."

"Why does he want to kill you, Billy?"

"He's…" Billy trails off as he looks behind her.

"Billy, it's okay! What? Just tell me."

"He's here!"

The Ugly Man clubs Buffy with his deformed arm and knocks her off the stands and onto the floor. She quickly gets up as he tries another swing and misses. She ducks a third swing, kicks him in the jaw with a high side kick and follows up with a spinning out-to-in crescent kick to his face. He isn't fazed. He swings again with his club arm and hits her squarely in the back, knocking her into the stands. He swings again as she gets up and knocks her legs out from under her, making her fall backward and onto the floor again. She rolls out of the way as he swings again, gets up and quickly lumps after Billy, who's already gone out the door.

* * *

Giles, Willow, Trinity, and Xander walk out of the library to find Buffy. "Buffy doesn't know this is happening. And given the sort of thing that she tends to dream about, it's imperative that we find her." The Watcher tells them.

"Probably faster if we split up to look for her." Xander says.

Giles nods in agreement. "Good idea." He and Xander go off in opposite directions, leaving Trinity and Willow behind.

"Oh, uh, faster, but…not really safer." Willow says.

Trinity puts a hand on the redheads shoulder. "Be careful. The sooner we find Buffy, the closer we'll be to ending these nightmares."

* * *

Buffy slides a hockey stick through the door handles to slow the Ugly Man down. He pounds on the door as she leans against it. She looks around, sees Billy and goes over to him. "Billy!"

He looks at her. "I'm sorry, I can't help it."

"Who is he?"

"He's the Ugly Man."

"He's too strong! I can't fight him! We have to find my friends. They can help us."

"We have to hide."

Buffy shakes her head. "No! He'll find us!"

"Yes, but we have to hide. That's how it happens. We hide, and then he comes."

Buffy leads him away.

* * *

Willow walks down the stairs when she hears a commotion in the hallway and is greeted by the sight of a frizzy haired Cordelia being dragged away by some nerds.

"No! What are you doing! Hey, no! You don't understand! I don't wanna go! I'm not even on the chess team! I swear, I'm not!" She screams as they drag her into the room.

Willow smiles at the sight.

"Willow!" a voice calls.

"Noooo!" Cordelia screams.

Willow turns towards the voice and goes to the basement, opening it and looking inside.

"Willow!"

"Buffy?" She starts down the stairs, leaving the door open. "Hello? Buffy?" She reaches the bottom of the steps and looks around. "I'm not afraid. You'd think I'd be afraid, but I'm not." She continues into the room and looks around. Suddenly, a hand grabs her on the shoulder and pulls her away as she screams.

* * *

Xander walks through a door and finds that the hall has been vandalized, with swastikas spray-painted everywhere. A light hanging from the ceiling is flickering. He spies a chocolate bar on the floor. "Alright!" He picks up the bar and tears it open. "Someone else's loss is my chocolatey goodness." He takes a huge bite and looks around for more, spotting a Hershey's bar on the floor. He walks over and picks it up, now tearing into that one. "This is my lucky day!" He takes a bite and continues to look around.

* * *

Trinity walks through the hallway, checking classrooms. The window to the classroom is covered and opens the door, stepping inside.

* * *

Buffy and Billy come out of the door. The blonde looks around in confusion. "Wha…I was sure this led to the library." She sees Billy looking through the fence sadly, watching some students play together. She walks over to him. "They're just playing. What is it? What's bothering you?"

"Baseball. When you lose, it's bad."

"Did you lose your game last week?"

He nods. "It was my fault."

"Why was it your fault?"

"I missed a ball and I should have caught it."

"You missed one ball and the whole game was your fault? What, you were the only one playing? There wasn't eight other people on your team?"

"He said it was my fault."

"Who said?" She asks but he stays silent. "Billy, did he hurt you after the game?"

"Can we go another way to find your friends?"

Buffy nodded, seeing that he didn't wish to speak anymore on the topic. "Sure. Okay. We can go around the cafeteria." She turns around and sees the Ugly Man punching a student before heading towards them. "Bad idea!" She looks around. "Uh, this way! C'mon!" She pushes Billy ahead of her through some bushes. When they get through to the other side they are in the cemetery, and it's nighttime. "What just happened?"

"Is this where your friends are?"

"No, it's not."

* * *

The show director pulls Willow through the door to the dressing room. The red head is dressed in a green kimono. "Man, I thought you weren't gonna show! Aldo is beside himself." He makes some adjustments to her kimono.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are proud to present two of the world's greatest singers!" The Emcee announces, making the audience applaud.

The director guides Willow onto the auditorium stage behind the curtain. "I hope you're warmed up. It's an ugly crowd out there tonight. All the reviewers showed up."

"All the way from Firenze, Italy, the one and only Aldo Gianfranco! And all the way from Sunnydale, California, the world's finest soprano, Willow Rosenberg!"

Willow sees Aldo on stage through the curtain, dressed in a tuxedo and holding out his hand to greet her. She backs away into the director. "But I…I didn't learn the words!"

The director ignores her and shoves her forward. She stumbles through the curtains and bumps into Aldo. He shoots her a disgruntled look which she meets with a terrified gaze. The applause dies down and the spotlight settles on Aldo, who begins to sing.

" _Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia, ora sei tutta mia."_

The spotlight moves to Willow, who's paralyzed in fear and remains silent as she looks between Aldo and the crowd.

Realizing that she's not going to sing, Aldo begins again, making the spotlight shift back to him. _"Sei tutta vestita di giglio. Mi piace la treccia tua bruna fra I candidi veli."_ When he finishes his bar, he gives her an annoyed look and stomps his foot.

"My turn?" Willow meekly asks.

"Mm-hmm!" He hums, annoyed.

She turns to the crowd and lets out a high-pitched squeak. The audience mumbles in discontent and Aldo storms away in disgust.

* * *

Sheets of plastic hang from the ceiling in the hallway. Xander pushes though a pair and stops, is hands filled with various candy bars. "I love these bars!" He spots another one on the floor. "A Chocolate Hurricane! These are the best! I haven't had one of these since my…" He trails off as the sound of incessant giggling reaches his ears. "…sixth…" he looks around. "…birthday." He sees a shadow come up behind another sheet of plastic, and a vicious looking clown suddenly bursts through. Xander screams in terror as the clown holds up a knife. Xander falls as he tries to get away and somersaults backward into the next hall. He quickly starts to crawl away.

* * *

Trinity walks through the church pews, passing people dressed in black with their heads bowed. She walks up to the casket at the front of the room and looks at Jesse's calm face. Tears fill her eyes and she turns away. The people in the church have disappeared.

"It's all your fault y'know." Trinity turns back to see Jesse looking at her. "If you would've told us what you were; warned us, this would've never happen. I wouldn't be dead."

"Jesse…" Trinity chokes out.

He sits up. "Y'know, I've come to realize a lot of things that wouldn't've been if it weren't for you. I could've been popular if I hadn't stuck to your side like Xander and Willow when everyone found out you were a dyke." He spits out the word before hopping out of the casket, making Trinity take a few steps back. "I could've had friends; I could've had a girlfriend, since obviously you weren't available."

He continued towards her, taking a step forward each time she takes a step back. "Actually things would've been a lot better if you had just died with your parents." He smirks. "You ever notice how everyone around you dies and the ones that don't just leave you? C'mon how long do you think Xander and Willow will stick around now that they have Buffy? What do they _really_ need you for? Buffy's the muscle, Willow's the brains, and Xander's the mildly helpful comic relief. What are you? Are you Slayer's sidekick, there to help protect them from the big bad?" he laughs and gestures to himself. "I think this is enough of an example of how much help you are. So why don't you do everyone a favor." He roughly grabs her arms and slams her into the wall, his face morphs into that of a vampire. "And just die."

* * *

Buffy looks around the cemetery and walks around. "I don't see the Ugly Man. I also don't know where the sun and the rest of the world went."

"Look at this." Billy calls. She follows his gaze and sees a freshly dug grave with an open pine coffin inside. "I guess we're gonna bury someone. I wonder who died."

"Nobody died." The Master tells them. Buffy and Billy look up at him in shock. "What's the fun of burying someone if they're already dead?"

She stares at him in disbelief. "You!"

He sizes her up. "So! This is the Slayer! You're prettier than the last one."

"This isn't real. Y-you can't be free!"

"You still don't understand, do you? I am free because you fear it. Because you fear it, the world is crumbling. Your nightmares are made flesh. You have little Billy to thank for that."

She looks behind her, but Billy is gone. She turns back to the Master. "A dream is a wish your heart makes." He wraps his hand around her neck. "This is real life." He angles her back to the open grave. "Come on, Slayer! What are you afraid of?" He growls and bares his teeth, but instead of biting her, he throws her into the coffin at the bottom of the grave, and the lid slams shut."

"No! Help me!" She screams, banging on the lid.

"How 'bout being buried alive?" The Master laughs maniacally as he starts to shovel dirt into the grave.

"Somebody help me! Please! No! No! Please! No! No! No! Somebody help me! Please! No!" The first shovelful of dirt hits the coffin, and some falls in through the cracks. "Please! No! Help me! No!" The next shovelful of dirt covers the crack between the boards. "Help!"

* * *

Trinity kicks futilely as she tries to pry Jesse's hands from her neck. "C'mon Trini, just give up."

As Trinity begins to fade, she mourns all of her memories of Jessie; of all the tears replaced by laughter because of him. Her eyes shoot open, revealing her slit pupils and gold irises. "You're not Jesse." She growls and claws his face. Jesse roars in pain and stumbles away, holding a hand to his face. Trinity lands nimbly on her feet, moving forward as oxygen fills her lungs. "Maybe things could've been different but I can't spend my life thinking about 'what ifs'. Jesse's gone and I can't change that." She whips into a roundhouse kick, sending the vampire flying back towards the front of the room. "What I can do is spend my time training and helping to make sure that someone won't have to experience what I've felt. That one less person will have to lose a friend, or a son, or a brother." Jesse throws a punch but she blocks it, sending one back and grabbing him. She throws him farther away, making him land on the stand holding a picture of his face up. The wood snaps under his weight. Trinity picks up a piece and tightens her hold on the makeshift stake before flipping the creature over to face her. "You're not Jesse." She plunges the stake into his chest. "Just the thing that destroyed him." She watches as the vampire burst into ash before leaving the room.

* * *

Willow comes through a door while being pelted with tomatoes. Xander runs up to her. "Did you find Buffy?"

"I had to sing! Very bad to sing!"

"Willow, c'mon. Let's find the others."

"Already here." Trinity walks up to them and sees Xander's pale face. "What happened to you?"

"Remember my sixth birthday party?"

Willow laughs. "Oh, yeah! When the clown chased you and you got so scared that you had…" she stops smiling. "Oh!" The clown slices through a sheet of plastic, making her scream. The teens start to run only to collide with Giles moments later.

"No sign of Buffy?" The Watcher asks. They grab hold of him and pull him with them. He sees the clown and starts to run as well.

They reach the end of the hall and Xander stops, tired of the whole thing. He goes up to the clown, who raises his knife to attack. Xander punches him dead in the face and knocks him out. "You are a lousy clown! Your balloon animals are pathetic! Everyone can make a giraffe!" They leave and run outside only to quickly halt at the chaos that greets them. "I feel good! I feel liberated!"

Giles looks at the people running past them. "You seem to be the only one. Things are getting worse. In a few hours reality will fold completely into the realm of nightmares."

"Well, what do we do?" Willow asks.

"The only thing I can think is to try and wake Billy."

"Uh, no, we can't leave without Buffy." Xander tells them.

"Agreed, but who knows where she might have gone?"

Willow sees the rift to the graveyard across the street. "Excuse me, when did they put a cemetery in across the street?"

"And when did they make it night over there?" Trinity says. They walk through the rift into the cemetery. "Whose nightmare is this?"

Giles looks at a gravestone.

_Buffy Summers 1981 – 1997_

"It's mine." They all gather around the grave as Giles kneels next to it. "I've failed…in my duty to protect you. I should have been more c…cautious. Taken more time to train you. But you were so gifted. And the evil was so great. I'm sorry…" He lays his hand on the fresh soil. As he starts to get up a hand reaches up through the dirt and grabs his. Willow screams and Trinity tears Giles away. Buffy digs her way up through the dirt and brushes herself off. "Buffy?"

She looks up. To the horror of her friends and Watcher as they see her face morphed into a vampire. "I thought I was dead!"

"Buffy, your face!" Willow says.

Buffy brings her hands up to her face, feeling the difference. "Oh, God!" She keeps her hands up to hide her face.

Xander takes a couple of steps toward her. "Buffy…"

She turns away. "Don't look at me!"

"You never told me you dreamt of becoming a vampire." Giles says.

"This isn't a dream."

"No. No, it's not. But there's a chance that we can make it go away. This all comes from Billy. Now, if, if we can only wake him up, I believe that the nightmares will stop and reality will shift back into place, but we must do it now! I need you to hold together long enough to help us. Can you do that?"

She looks up at Giles and nods. "Yeah. I think I can."

"Thank you."

They turn to face the others. "Well, we better hurry…'cause I'm getting hungry." She starts walking.

Xander follows after her. "That is a…joke, right?"

"Are you sure everything will go back once he's awake?" Willow asks.

"Oh, uh, positive." Giles nods.

"Well, how do we wake Billy up? What if we can't?"

"Willow, do shut up."

* * *

The group walks into the pandemonium that is the hospital, running down the hall to Billy's room. Giles runs to a doctor nearby. "Doctor! Is the boy Billy still here?"

"My hands!" The doctor stares at his disfigured hands and walks away.

They run into Billy's room. "What now?" Trinity asks.

"Um…" Giles lowers towards the boy. "Billy! Billy?"

"That won't work." His astral body is standing by the curtains.

Giles looks up at him. "Billy! Uh, Billy, you have to wake up."

He shakes his head. "No. I told her. I have to hide."

"Why? From what?"

"From him!" Buffy says from the hallway, seeing the Ugly Man coming towards her. Giles and Trinity go over to the window to look.

"Aw, man, what do we do?" Xander asks.

"I think I know." Buffy takes off her jacket.

Trinity steps forward. "I've got your back."

Willow hears buzzing outside and peeks through the blinds to see giant black wasps flying over the town. "Whatever it is, it better be soon!"

The Ugly Man makes his way towards Buffy.

"Glad you showed up! You see, I'm having a _really_ bad day." The Slayer/Vampire says.

"Lucky nineteen!" The Ugly Man growls.

"Scary! I'll tell you something, though. There are a lot scarier things than you." She takes a couple of steps forward. "And I'm one of them."

The Ugly Man stops in his tracks at the sight of her. She roars and runs to attack. She jumps on him, knocking him down and punches him twice in the face. She tries for a third punch, but he blocks her and gets his foot under her stomach. He pushes hard, sending her backward. Trinity hisses, running up and roundhouse kicks him in the gut, making him double over, but he pushes her into the window of Billy's room and then throws her into the opposite wall. He tries to punch her with his club arm, but she ducks, and his arm slams into a wall. Buffy comes up behind him and side kicks him in the back. He slams into her, knocking her through the door into Billy's room and against his bed. She gets up to face him as he comes in after her. He swings again with his club arm, but she grabs it and roughly brings it down, breaking it over her knee. He wails in pain, and she body checks him into the wall, where he hits his head and slumps to the floor unconscious. Trinity enters the room and everyone stares at him.

"I-is he dead?" Billy asks.

Buffy looks at him. "Come here, Billy."

"I, I don't…"

"You have to do the rest."

Billy slowly comes around the bed and over to the Ugly Man.

"What are they doing?" Willow asks. Giles gestures for her to be quiet.

"I get it." Xander says.

Buffy takes Billy's hand and he looks up at her. "No more hiding."

Billy looks down at the Ugly Man. Buffy lets go of his hand, and he reaches for the Ugly Man's neck. He peels back his face and a bright light streams out. In the next instant everything is back to normal. The Ugly Man is gone, Buffy is herself again, Xander and Willow are in their regular clothes and the hospital is functioning. Buffy smiles and feels her face. Willow breathes a sigh of relief. Billy wakes up.

"Hey, he's waking up!" Xander says, making them gather around.

Billy blinks at them. "I had the strangest dream. And you were in it; and you…" he looks around. "Who are you people?"

They all smile. "Let's get a doctor." Giles says. Billy's coach comes in as Giles and Xander are about to leave the room.

"Oh! Huh. Billy's got company." He takes off his cap. "I-I-I'm his kiddie league coach. I come by here every day, just hoping against hope that he's gonna wake up soon. He's, uh, my lucky nineteen." Giles, Buffy, and Trinity exchange a look at his words. "So, um, how is he?"

Buffy steps aside to show him Billy. "He's awake."

"What?" The coach pales.

"You blamed him for losing the game. So you caught up with him afterwards, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?" He shakily asks, trying to act innocent.

Billy sits up. "You said that it was my fault that we lost." Realzing he's been found out, the coach tries to get away. Xander grabs him by the jacket and slams him against the wall, holding him there. "It wasn't my fault. There's eight other players on the team. You know that." He lies back down, his strength spent from holding himself up.

Buffy looks at the boy and smiles. "Nice going!"

Billy smiles back.

* * *

Buffy, Willow, Trinity, and Xander walk through the school courtyard.

"I just can't believe a kiddie league coach would do something like that." Buffy says.

"Well, you obviously haven't played kiddie league. I'm surprised it wasn't one of the parents." Xander tells her.

"I'm just glad he's behind bars where he belongs." Willow says.

"Yeah, I hear they don't take kindly to crimes that involve children." Trinity says.

Buffy looks at Xander. "But that was kinda heroic, Xander, grabbing him and all."

Xander flushes and puffs up a bit in pride. "Well, I just did what anyone else would've. I mean, if you wanna label it heroic…"

Hank drives up and honks, getting out of the car to wave at Buffy. "Hi!"

Buffy smiles at her friends. "Have a killer weekend, guys!" Xander bows his head to her.

Buffy goes to her dad, who walks up the steps to hug her. "Hi, sweetheart! Oh, it's so good to see you!" He releases her. "How was your day?"

"Fine. You know, usual."

Willow turns to Xander. "Personal question?"

"Yeah, shoot!"

"When Buffy was a vampire, you weren't still, like, attracted to her, were you?"

"Willow, how can you…I mean, that's really bent! She was…grotesque!"

Trinity smirks at him. "Still dug her, huh?"

"I'm sick, I need help."

"Don't I know it."


End file.
